A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: When fear envelops you, when grief overtakes you, quote scripture to yourself. I can't tell you how powerful the Word of God is. And that is why you need to memorize scripture.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie offers help for those moments when our minds get so overwhelmed with all the problems and pain around us.

Greg Laurie: When it hits you at 3:00 in the morning and you think this is going to happen and that is going to happen, quote scripture. That's your lifeline.

Dave Detwiler: We talk of the Word of God as being our sword, our sword of the Spirit in spiritual battle. We speak of it being food for our hungry soul. But it's also a steady life preserver when we get pulled under by pressure and panic.

And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie shows us the comfort we meet with the Bible calls Jesus a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. He understands our pain, and His arms are strong enough to carry us through.

Greg Laurie: I would like you to grab your Bibles if you would please and turn to two passages today: Acts chapter 8 and Isaiah 53. Acts chapter 8, Isaiah 53. And the title of my message is "Jesus in You: The God Who Feels Your Pain."

We're in our series "Jesus in You 2." We've looked at some Old Testament appearances of Christ. We saw him, of course, in his wrestling match with Jacob. We saw him there in the story of Abraham and Isaac. We saw him appearing to Gideon and Joshua before they went into battle. Recently, we saw him in the fiery furnace walking with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

And now we shift gears to this chapter in the Old Testament that speaks in great detail of the mission and work of Jesus Christ. C.H. Spurgeon, the great British preacher, said of Isaiah 53, quote, "This chapter is the very heart of the gospel. It's the Bible in miniature." End quote. It's so significant. So let's look at it together.

But before we do, let me sort of set the table, if you will. Acts chapter 8, where we read about a man from Ethiopia who was the treasurer to Candace the Queen. He went to Jerusalem apparently searching for God. He was probably disillusioned with all the false gods of his culture and he wanted to know more about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But instead of finding the vibrant faith that was once there, he found legalism and dead rituals. But he did obtain something of tremendous value. They gave to him, no doubt because he was a foreign dignitary, a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Now they didn't have printing presses back then, so it's a pretty valuable thing to have a handwritten scroll by the scribes themselves.

And he's reading it in Isaiah 53. And so there's Philip out in the desert because God had instructed Philip the Evangelist to just go to the desert. He didn't tell him what was going to happen after that. He said just go to the desert. And by the way, that reminds me of this simple fact: God leads us one step at a time.

You know, we like detailed blueprints. We want to know what's next and then what and then what. God said, "Just go to the desert." A lot of times God wants you to take that first step of faith and once you take that the next step will be revealed to you. So there's Philip hanging out in the desert. Along comes this guy with his entourage reading from Isaiah 53 and he asks this question of Philip: Of whom is the prophet speaking? Of himself or of another?

We'll come back to the story, but let's go now to Isaiah 53 and read a few verses, starting in verse one. "Who has believed our message? To whom is the Lord revealed his powerful arm?" Speaking of Jesus, "He was a tender plant, a root out of dry ground. There was nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care." We'll stop there.

If you're taking notes, here is point number one: Jesus was ordinary in appearance. Jesus did not come from the marble palaces of Rome or from the halls of Herod. He came from dusty, funky little Nazareth. So Jesus came from an ordinary place and he was ordinary in appearance. But you see, when God looks at us, he doesn't look on the outside. He looks more at the inside.

So he was ordinary in appearance. Number two: He was extraordinary in what he came to do. So though he was ordinary in appearance, he was extraordinary in what he came to do. Look at Isaiah 53 verse three. "He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not care."

What does it mean that Jesus was a man of sorrows? He was a man of sorrows when he bore the sin of the world at the cross of Calvary. When he hung there and cried out those words, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" That was him being the suffering Savior, being the man of sorrows.

So when we think about Jesus understanding pain, that's not just theory. He experienced it personally. He knows what it's like to weep. He wept at the tomb of Lazarus and over the city of Jerusalem. He knows what it's like to be abandoned by friends. He knows what it's like to go through the difficulties you and I go through and he is a man of sorrows and he understands grief.

And grief is very hard. Grief is different than just basic sorrow. Grief is usually connected to the loss of a loved one. It could be a spouse, it could be a child, it could be a close friend. But when someone you love is taken from you, you experience grief. It's an ache that hits you in the middle of the night and you can't believe it actually happened.

Sorrow passes through you but grief moves in and takes residence for a while and it's very difficult to go through. But Jesus knows exactly what it's like. I talk a lot to people who've lost loved ones because our son went to be with the Lord 16 years ago. People reach out to me all the time, not just from our church but from all over the place.

And I have many conversations with them and do what I can to try to help them and pray with them and share some things that I've learned. But in many ways grief is like, well, it's like when you're out in the ocean and you're surfing and you get caught in the white water. You know what I'm talking about? And the last thing you want to do when you're caught in the white water is paddle out toward the waves. But that is exactly what you should do.

What you want to do is go back to the shore as quickly as possible. So you get into that impact zone and the waves start coming and more waves come and more waves come. And sometimes people have been so disoriented in the white water they don't know which way is up and they swim down when they should be swimming up and they drown.

So if you have a boogie board or a surfboard you also have probably a leash attached to it, right? Attached to your ankle. Grab your leash and pull on it and it will always take you to the surface. The leash in the white water is the Word of God and it gets us to the surface where we can get a gulp of air, even for a moment.

And I can't tell you how powerful the Word of God is. When fear envelops you, when grief overtakes you, quote scripture to yourself. And this is why you need to memorize scripture and this is why you need to know the Bible. When it hits you at 3:00 in the morning and you think this is going to happen and that is going to happen and you just speak to yourself from God's very word and say, "God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and a sound mind."

"The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom then shall I fear?" Or your loved one is gone. "I'll never see them again." You will see them again because Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die." Learn the Bible. Quote the Bible. That's your lifeline. That's your leash to the surface to get a gulp of air.

Having said all of that, grief is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be a good thing. And here's why: the depth of your grief is an indication of the depth of your love. You grieve because you loved and you love, present tense as well. And Jesus said, "Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted."

I've met Christians who've lost loved ones sometimes suddenly and they are not crying, they're not mourning. They're saying, "Well, they're in heaven, I'm just going to be happy." I'll say, "No, you need to cry. And you need to cry a lot. Because this is a process of healing and you can't just smile your way through catastrophic loss."

So it's okay to grieve. But grieve and cry out to God and Jesus will comfort you through your time of grieving. And he understands what you're going through. He's walked in your shoes. I like what Hebrews 4:15 says. It says, "This high priest of ours," speaking of Christ, "understands our weaknesses and he has faced all the same testings as we have but he has not sinned." So Jesus knew sorrow and he understood grief.

Dave Detwiler: Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. It's a joy to hear when these studies have truly impacted lives. Listen to these comments from one of our listeners.

Guest (Female): Pastor Greg, in 2022 I started listening to A New Beginning on a radio station here in Boston, Massachusetts. The way you relayed the message of the gospel spoke to me and convicted me of my need of a Savior. I gave my life to Jesus that day and you sent me a New Believer's Bible. I devoured it.

I knew absolutely nothing of Jesus and his saving grace. I'm so thoroughly grateful to you for being there on that day to share the gospel. Thank you. Oh, and it didn't end there. My husband and 12-year-old son came to Jesus later that year at my church here. Thank you so much, Pastor Greg.

Dave Detwiler: If you've had your life changed because of Harvest Ministries, would you let Pastor Greg know? Just drop him an email: Greg@harvest.org. Again, that's Greg@harvest.org. Well, today Pastor Greg is bringing us observations from the pain and sorrow Jesus faced on his way to the cross.

Number three: He loved us and he died for us. Why did he do all this? He loved us and he died for us. Isaiah 53 verse five, "He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The punishment for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Listen, Jesus was not an accidental victim. He was a conquering victor. He knew exactly what he was doing. No one took his life from him. He laid it down of his own accord and spoke of it often. He said, "No one takes my life, I give it of myself." And that's why he had to die.

You say, "But why did he have to die in that way?" Because God plays by his own rules. And his word says the soul that sins shall surely die. And his word says without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. So he did this to fulfill what scripture said.

He lived in the shadow of the cross from the moment he entered our world and he did it because there was no other way to satisfy the righteous demands of God. As hard as it was, there was no other way to satisfy God's righteous demand. So he became our substitute. He went in our place. He paid the price. We sing in the song, "Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe." And that's exactly right.

Point number four: And Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice. Verse seven of Isaiah 53, "He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth." G. Campbell Morgan, the great commentator, summed it up this way and I quote, "Never was silence so eloquent." End quote.

And Jesus did not speak in his own defense. When he stood before King Herod, he didn't speak a single word. When he was brought before Pilate, he said a few things but not a word in his own defense. As a lamb before their shearers is quiet, so he opened not his mouth.

Now coming back to Acts chapter eight, picking that story up. So here's Philip out in the desert. Along comes this Ethiopian eunuch, this man of great importance reading aloud from Isaiah chapter 53 trying to figure it all out. And here's what happened next. Acts 8:34, the eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?"

So beginning with the same scripture, Philip told him the good news about Jesus and as they rode along they came to some water. The eunuch said, "Look, there's some water. Why can't I be baptized?" And he ordered the carriage to stop. And they went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away and the eunuch never saw him again but he went on his way rejoicing.

I love this story. Here's what's interesting. So they're cruising along and the guy says, "Okay, I believe. I believe in Jesus Christ. Can I be baptized? Here's some water. Why not here?" Well, okay. Philip didn't say, "Well, you have to go through catechism first." "Wait, you have to hang around the church for a year so we can get to know you better, make sure you're really converted. Then we have to get you in a small group quickly, you see."

"Hey, you want to be baptized right now?" So how long does it take to be converted? Does it take years? Sometimes people say, "I'm in the process of converting." Well, you might be checking out the claims of Christ but you're either converted or you're not converted, or to put it biblically, you're either saved or you're not saved.

But it doesn't take years. It doesn't take months. It doesn't take weeks. It doesn't take days. It doesn't even take hours. You can believe just like that. And I think most of you would look back on your moment of coming to Christ and say it just happened like a flash. Not for everyone. For some it's more gradual, but for many it's like a flash. I know for me it was. It was like boom, suddenly I got it. And I said, "I want Christ in my life."

And then we read after he baptizes this guy the Lord caught Philip away. Now this is very interesting because the word used for catching Philip away is the Greek word "harpazo." And it's translated "rapture." It's the same word used in First Thessalonians 4 when it says we will be caught up—harpazo—to meet the Lord in the air.

But Philip wasn't taken up, he was taken sideways. Like 70 miles away. It was a sideways rapture. In other words, God took him from point A to point B. It'd be like Greg was preaching in Riverside and was caught away to Orange County. That's a lot better than sitting on the freeway, I got to tell you that. I wish the Lord would do this with me sometimes, especially when I'm stuck in traffic.

But here's the point: this was never repeated again. It's sort of a one-off event. But here's the end of the story that I love: the man from Ethiopia went on his way rejoicing. You know, he found who he was looking for. Let me contrast him briefly with another man. The man from Ethiopia, powerful, wealthy, influential.

Now there's another man we read about in the New Testament. We don't know his name. We just call him the rich young ruler. Remember him? He's a young dude, very successful, made his way in life and accomplished a lot, had a super cool BMW chariot, you know. Pulled up to Jesus drinking a lavender latte. "Hey, what's up?"

He says, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Probably thought Jesus would say, "Hey man, I want you on the team. You're good, look at you. I need a guy like you. I got a bunch of ragtag fishermen, a tax collector. I want you. By the way, can we use your chariot?" Jesus says, "Hmm. Why do you call me good? There's none good but God. Okay, keep the commandments. You shall not steal, you shall not lie, you shall not commit adultery, honor your father and mother."

And the Bible says the rich young ruler said, "All of these I have kept since I've been a little boy." And then we read Jesus looked at him and loved him. I love that. Because that kid was lying. What do you mean all these I've kept from my youth? No one has kept the commandments from their youth.

The commandments were not given to make you righteous, they were given to show you how unrighteous you are. The commandments were given to drive you into the open arms of Jesus. "All of these I've kept from my youth." Instead of reading Jesus looked at him and loved him, it would have made more sense to read and Jesus looked at him and smacked him across the face and said, "What you talking about, Willis?"

Okay, dated reference. But I mean, give me a break. I think Jesus looked at him and thought, "Right, aren't you—look how cute he is. All these I've kept from my youth. Oh really? Okay," says Jesus. "Take all of your stuff, sell it and give the money to the poor and come follow me." And we read that man went away sorrowful for he had many possessions.

So what was his problem? Was his problem that he had stuff? No. His problem was the stuff had him. Because Jesus never said this to anybody else. This was just for this guy because that young man worshipped his things and his things were more important to him than God himself.

To another person Jesus might say, "Break off that relationship that's dragging you down spiritually and follow me." To another he might say something else. Again, it was a one-off conversation that was not repeated again. And that man went away sad. So here's two men, both powerful, both influential, both came and heard the gospel. One went away glad, the other went away sad.

Now you have a choice as to how you're going to go away from here today. You can go away glad, you can go away sad. You can say, "Well, I don't like this, I don't want to be a Christian, I don't want this." You can live the way you want. God's given you a free will. Or you can go away glad by believing in Jesus Christ.

And I want to close by giving you an opportunity to come into a relationship with the God who loves you, the God who has a plan for you, the God who can forgive you of all of your sins. I raised those questions earlier. How can one be certain that their sins are forgiven? Simple answer: by the blood of Jesus.

By admitting to God they're a sinner and asking Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for their sin and rose again from the dead, to come into their life and be their Savior and Lord. You need to do that. I can't do this for you. Your wife or your husband can't do this for you. Your parents can't do it for you. You have to say, "Lord, come into my life." Have you done that yet?

Let's all pray. Father, I pray for anyone here, anyone watching, listening, wherever they are, if they don't have this relationship with you, let this be the moment they believe. Let this be the moment they come to you and find forgiveness. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Dave Detwiler: Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer today here on A New Beginning. And if you'd like to make that kind of change, if you'd like to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, Pastor Greg wants to help you do that right now.

Greg Laurie: I would like to just pray a prayer and I would ask you to pray it after me. You might even pray it out loud. Pray these words: Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, but I also know that you are the Savior because you died on the cross for my sin and you rose again from the dead. Jesus, come into my life and forgive me of every sin I've ever committed. I choose to follow you from this moment forward.

Thank you for hearing this prayer. Thank you for answering this prayer, Lord. And I pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.

If you just prayed that prayer and meant it, I want you to know on the authority of scripture, God Almighty has heard your prayer and he will answer this prayer. You are now a newly minted child of God. So congratulations, you've made the right decision and welcome to the family of God.

I want to send you a special gift because of that prayer you've just prayed. 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 Detwiler: Yeah, just get in touch and we'll be glad to send you Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible. Millions of people literally have been helped by this edition of God's Word. There are more than 10 million in print. And we'll send it free of charge to help you build a solid foundation of faith.

So ask for the New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24/7 number, 1-800-821-3300. 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 benefit.

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 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, Pastor Greg brings the finale to his series "Jesus in You" with a message called "The Name That Changes Everything." Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.