A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: What kind of world would we live in today if you were its sole representative? You are the light of the world. You!

Guest (Male): Coming up today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie reminds us we are the Lord's representatives. When they look at us, do they see Jesus?

Greg Laurie: There are five Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and you. You're the fifth Gospel. You're the only Bible some people are ever going to read.

Guest (Male): The Apostle Paul poses some essential questions in Romans chapter 10. How can non-believers call on Jesus to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?

Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out how important it is that we share the good news of Christ. It's such an important link in the chain. Important insight coming up from the Lord's Sermon on the Mount.

Greg Laurie: You are an influencer. You have a platform and you have a following. Now, it could be on social media, but in your world, you have a sphere of influence where you influence other people. So it really comes down to this: Are you a good or are you a bad influence?

Here's what Jesus said 2,000 years ago that is very relevant to this topic of influencing others. Matthew 5, starting in verse 13, he says, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people put a lamp under a bowl; instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine to others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

We'll stop there. Notice that Jesus says first we are to be salt, then we are to be light. First you're salt, then you're light. Why is it given in this order? Well, first the salt, they have a preserving effect. I create in others a thirst for God. And then, having acted as salt, I can function as light. And effectively, I earn the right to be heard.

I admire your life, a non-believer says. I look at your family. How do you raise kids like that in this world today? They ask as their baby's looking at an iPad in their stroller, or they're letting their kids behave in a crazy way with complete disrespect and total irresponsibility. Or they ask you, "How can you have a smile on your face when you're going through the hardship you're going through?"

So you've been salt, now you've earned the right to be light. Light exposes the darkness. It exposes the darkness. It's funny how in the dark you can't find something, flip on the light and you find it. You're driving in your car at night and you're eating a burrito and you drop it and lose it. The next morning you turn the lights on, you find that burrito and the one you lost two weeks ago as well. Which by the way has become its own life form and has climbed up into your child's car seat and strapped itself in.

But this is the thing: Light shows you things you would not otherwise see. And in the same way, when a Christian is living as they should, their mere presence in a room changes the temperature. It changes the dynamic. Here comes the salty lightbulb. Hey, how's it going? I mean, they're in the middle of telling a dirty joke and they're having a good time and all of a sudden you walk in and the conversation stops. I kind of like that. Here comes the representative of Jesus Christ.

Be that salt. Be that light. Be that person that makes a difference. But don't expect a standing ovation. Jesus said, "This is the condemnation: Light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. And everyone who is evil practices evil and they hate the light. And they don't come to the light lest their deeds should be exposed." That can happen without you even saying a word.

Listen, few things are harder to put up with than a good example. Few things are harder to put up with than a good example. When you're a good example, it drives people crazy. They want to see you mess up. They want to see you fall short so they can say, "Hypocrite," right? You keep your light shining.

And how does that light shine? It shines through good works. Listen, people don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care. You may win the theological debate and blow your listener out of the water. Yeah, you're smart, you had the answers, but you're mean and I don't want to talk to you anymore. But then you can be a loving person and help someone. "Let me help you change your tire. Let me help you do this thing you need done. Let me assist you." And they go, "Wow, I really like this person," and their heart will open up to you.

So we need to show people, and I think that Christians do this so well. Yeah, we want to preach the Gospel, but we'll show our good works in practical ways as well. Through our church, Harvest Riverside, Harvest Orange County, and Harvest Maui, we've done so much in this last year alone.

As last Easter was approaching, we gave away 1,500 Easter baskets for little children that had really nothing. We hosted a back-to-school event in partnership with In-N-Out Burger and the Department of Education. It helped 6,000 people. We gave out 4,000 backpacks filled with things that children need, and we provided free dental care. We didn't do it ourselves, we had actual dentists doing it. I want you to know that, it'd be frightening. "Let me do a drill." No, no.

And they were giving haircuts by professionals again, people who volunteered their time. And they were given medical screenings, and they were given free burgers and fries from In-N-Out Burger. We're all about showing it through good works. And it earns us the right to proclaim the Gospel.

Let your light shine like you were the only one in the world. Let your light shine like you were the only one in the world. Look at verse 13: "You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth." You might underline in your Bible "you". He uses it twice. You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth. In the original language, it would imply you and you alone are the salt of the earth. You and you alone are the light of the world.

Question: What kind of world would we live in today if every Christian behaved just as you do? How many would be attracted or turned off to the Gospel? What kind of general opinion do you think people would have of Christianity if you were its sole representative?

Now you're thinking that's kind of a lot of pressure, Greg. Hey, newsflash, you are its sole representative in your sphere of influence in some cases. You may be the only Christian some people know. And they haven't even told you this yet, but they're watching you. And not only are they watching you, they're hoping you slip up. But when you don't slip up, or if you do slip up, you apologize for it and own it, they say, "There's something different about that person. I have to keep my eye on them." You're being salt, you're stimulating the thirst, you're doing your job.

Listen, there are five Gospels. "Greg, you're mistaken, there's only four." No, there's five, actually: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and you. You're the fifth Gospel. You're the only Bible some people are ever going to read. They're literally evaluating Christ based on you. I can't handle that. Well, handle it! And do the best that you can because you and you alone are the salt of the earth. You and you alone are the light of the world. Christians are walking epistles written by God and read by men.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Pastor Greg, it's such an encouragement to us here at A New Beginning when listeners tell us how this broadcast has impacted their lives. In fact, some people even call us and leave a recording of how the program has affected them. That's really the way that impacts us most because we get to hear that in their actual voice, isn't that true?

Greg Laurie: Oh yes, I can't tell you, Dave, how many times I've met people just out and about who will tell me. I may be in an airport or walking through a market or whatever and they'll say, "Are you Greg Laurie?" I'll say yes, and then they'll slap me. That happens most of the time, and I don't like that. No, they don't.

But generally people are so nice and they say, "I have to tell you a story. Do you have a moment?" "Yes, I do." And they'll tell me of how they came to Christ hearing our radio broadcast. That's such a blessing to me. And I want other people to hear those stories. So here's my question to you: Have you made a commitment to Jesus Christ listening to A New Beginning?

And maybe you came to Christ at one of our Harvest Crusades or watching something we did online or whatever it is, but if you came to Christ through our media ministry, I'd love to hear your story. I want you to tell me what happened to you and we just might use it and put it on air and a lot of people will be blessed to hear what God has done in your life. So there's a number you can call. It's a designated number to share your story. And Dave, what is that number?

Guest (Male): Yes, 866-871-1144. You can call anytime. Again, 866-871-1144. Tell us how the Lord has used this ministry to bring you to the Lord. Well, we're glad you're along today for Pastor Greg's message in Matthew 5 called "Make a Difference".

Greg Laurie: So let's put this all together and wrap it up. Salt is valuable, it preserves, it stimulates thirst. Light exposes and shows us the way. We do this through good works and Gospel proclamation. This is who we are in this culture. Now I'm asking you, are you doing it?

We're in a political season right now, and we all should vote, by the way. Every Christian should register and vote. So important. And let's get real, there's no perfect candidates. No perfect candidates. You're going to find flaws in every candidate out there. So I have to think of it this way: Are there positions, the things that they stand for, are these the positions that I hold as a Bible-believing Christian? If that's it, then sometimes you say, "Then I'm going to vote for them even though they're not perfect."

But we need to register, we need to vote. But having said that, don't put your hope in political solutions. Don't. Only God can change the human heart. Only God can turn our nation around. And that would require a spiritual awakening. We should all be praying for that. A.W. Tozer, a great writer from years ago, made this statement, and I quote, "Revival is that which affects the moral climate of a community," end quote.

So you want to see the morality of a community affected, then we need a spiritual awakening. Someone said, "Well, change society and you'll get better men and women." Effectively Jesus says, "Change men and women and you'll get a better society." That's why our primary efforts at Harvest are focused on the Gospel and the proclamation of it and calling people to Christ. That's the best thing I can do for the United States.

But more importantly, it's the best thing I can do for the Kingdom of God and it's the only thing that I'm really called primarily to do. Listen, you and you alone make a difference. You have a part to play. I heard it once said, quote, "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And what I can do I ought to do, and what I ought to do by the grace of God I will do." So be the salt and be the light.

Now let me close. Some of you listening to what I'm saying are not believers and you are actually living in darkness. We all are before we're Christians. We don't know it because it's all we've ever known. The story is told from history of a castle-like prison in Paris known as the Bastille that was about to be destroyed in 1789. There was a prisoner who had been confined there for years in this dark, dingy place.

And so he was released. And he came out of his dark prison cell and the light was so blinding, he turned back and said, "I want to be kept in the prison. I want to die in this prison. I can't handle the light." And this is the problem, is you can become too comfortable in the dark. And some people are. You ever notice how bars are so often dark? I spent a lot of time in bars. Really? Yeah, when I was a kid living with my alcoholic mother who seemed to live in bars, and I would sit around and wait for her to stop drinking so we could go home. But people living in darkness, they need the light turned on.

And here's the problem: It's not that God will not forgive you, but it's that you could come to a point in your life where you would no longer want his forgiveness. The Bible says, "Harden not your heart if you can hear his voice." Every time you hear the Gospel and don't respond to it in the affirmative, your heart gets a little bit harder. The Bible says, "He who is often reproved hardens his heart and he will be cut off and that without remedy." Let me paraphrase that: You hear the truth, you say no to the truth, and your heart gets a little tougher.

Now some people say, "Well, I'll come to Christ on my deathbed." Okay, are you sure you're going to have a deathbed? For some, death comes suddenly without warning. They don't know that day is their last day. For others, yes, they get older or they get sick and they know that death is coming and they're told by people to get their affairs in order so they're ready to die.

But you think those people are all open to the Gospel? I would hope so, but I know some people that they live so long in sin, they're like that prisoner in that prison in Paris who's so used to the dark they want to stay in the dark. So it's not that you get to a point where God would not forgive you as much as you get to a point where you would not want to be forgiven, you see, because you've hardened your heart.

The Bible says, "Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to our God, who will abundantly pardon." Notice "Seek the Lord while he may be found." Jesus is here with us right now. He said when two or more gathered together in my name, I'm there in the midst of them. He's here.

And Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins and paid the price for every wrong we've ever done and then rose from the dead, stands at the door of our life and he knocks and says if you'll hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. Here's my question: Have you ever asked Jesus to come into your life? This is what you need. This is what you've been looking for. And only you can open the door of your heart, so to speak, and ask him to come in.

You have to admit you're a sinner, you need to turn from your sin, and you need to say, "Jesus, help. Forgive me of my sin. Give me a fresh start in life. Fill that hole in my life that I've tried to fill maybe with fame or influence or money or relationships or possessions or whatever." Lord, I need you in my life and he will come into your life and he will change you.

So we're going to close now in prayer and I'm going to give you an opportunity to believe in Jesus and walk out of here a different person than when you came in. So let's all pray. Father, I pray that you will speak to those that do not yet know you. I pray that your Holy Spirit will work in their hearts and show them their need for you. Turn the light on in their life, Lord. Let them see how much they need that light so they will no longer want to live in darkness and bring them to yourself, I pray now in the name of Jesus.

Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying, there are some of you here that want Jesus in your life. Listen, if you want Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you want to go to heaven when you die, if you want to fill that hole deep inside of you, if you want to be ready for the Lord's return, if you're ready to say yes to Jesus today wherever you are, pray this prayer after me. You can pray it out loud if you like. Pray these words.

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

Guest (Male): Many people may remember this day, this day when they first became believers in Jesus Christ. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie praying with those who are asking Jesus to be their Savior. And if you've just prayed that prayer and you've meant those words sincerely, we want to help you begin to live this new life of faith.

Pastor Greg wants to send you his New Believer's Bible. He'll mail it to you at no charge and it'll help answer some questions you might have and get you started off right as you walk with the Lord. So ask for it when you call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime. Again, 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click "Know God".

A very important question, Pastor Greg. Are you ready?

Greg Laurie: Mhm.

Guest (Male): Okay. Historians, scientists, engineers, married couples have asked this question. When replacing the toilet paper roll, should the new roll spill off the front like a waterfall or off the back like a mullet? Waterfall or mullet?

Greg Laurie: Well, I've never heard it described that way. Well, being a man who formerly had a mullet, but mine was more of a skullet. Let me explain. I was losing my hair in my late 30s, so I started doing a comb-over. That's where you grow your hair out extra long and you comb it over to pretend you have hair but you're fooling no one, by the way.

But then it was also a time when the mullet was popular, so I grew my hair out long in the back, hence the skullet. But coming back to your question, I think it should be the waterfall over the mullet. I prefer that myself. I've never really thought about it, but when I put a new roll of toilet paper on the device, the spindle, the toilet paper holder, whatever you call it, I always have it coming over, not under. What on earth does this have to do with anything, Dave? What's going on?

Guest (Male): Okay, there aren't just two thoughts on that subject. There's actually a third group.

Greg Laurie: Okay.

Guest (Male): The third group are the people who use up the last square and then leave an empty cardboard tube for somebody else to deal with. The "somebody else" excuse.

Greg Laurie: That may be a sin. I'm not sure, it could be a sin.

Guest (Male): It may be. You know, we're listener-supported, but there are some people that leave that to somebody else. And we'd invite everyone to have a part, wouldn't we?

Greg Laurie: That's right. And so we're encouraging people to help us be ready for the next opportunity, the next place we can reach, the next group we can reach out to, the next soul we can bring the Gospel to. You know the cool thing about radio? It's a very personal medium. As an avid listener to Christian radio and as someone that's involved in producing a program, I feel there's an intimacy in radio that you don't have on television or in a podcast. And I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because you can't see the person, but it's almost like a conversation. And people connect in a different way.

I love Christian radio. I'm a strong believer in it. And some of us do listen to us on their phones or online in our streaming version, but it's the same thing. And I feel you can reach people in a unique way through this audio-only medium. And so we want to continue to be on the cutting edge and reach as many people as possible. We've never been afraid to adopt new technologies. In fact, we like to try to lead the way when possible.

But we want you to stand with us and help us continue to teach the Bible—you know we do that every day on our broadcast, A New Beginning—but also, and this is somewhat unique to our broadcast, preach the Gospel. Now others do that as well, but here's what's super unique to our ministry: throw the net. And by throw the net, I mean we give people an opportunity to pray and accept Christ.

You might wonder, does anyone ever pray with you when you do that? Oh yes, they do. Thousands do every year. And I've had people come up to me and tell me their stories. "I prayed with you over the radio and gave my life to Jesus Christ." One guy came up to me once and said, "I was listening to you in my car driving down the freeway and you said, 'Let's pray,' so I pulled over to the side of the road so I could pray." Smart guy.

So I believe that this is a powerful platform. And I believe you do too, because obviously you're listening right now. And maybe you're a regular listener, and thank you for that. But would you join our team? Would you become a part of what we are doing? We have a special program we have called Harvest Partners. And all that means is these are folks that have chosen to stand with us on a monthly basis and give toward our ministry.

Now you might not be able to give a lot. You may only be able to give a little. Others can give more. Just do what you can while you can and help us to reach more people like that guy on the freeway that gave his life to Jesus Christ. So in advance, let me say thank you for that.

Guest (Male): Yeah, and we're ready to help you with the details. Just give us a phone call at 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24/7 number: 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or 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 takes us to the Lord's Prayer for a practical look at how to pray and how not to pray. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie.