A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: God is bigger and greater than everyone and everything else.

Guest (Male): So when we come up against a spiritual adversary that seems to overwhelm us, Pastor Greg Laurie reminds us of this fact. A fact we should commit to memory.

Greg Laurie: Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. The one that's in you is Christ. The one that is in the world is Satan. Christ is greater than Satan, greater than sin, greater than your problem.

Guest (Male): If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, right? We've seen the headlines: people getting duped by smooth talkers, shady deals, and empty promises. But some of the most dangerous scams aren't financial; they're spiritual.

Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us spot the fakes and hold fast to the truth. From Ivy League mission statements to wolves in sheep's clothing, it's a revealing look at deception in the last days and the hope we have in Christ.

Greg Laurie: Have you ever gotten one of those scam phone calls? There are so many of them now. And they'll come from you name it: Apple, Amazon, the IRS. And they're telling you you better pay up or you're in trouble. Thirty-three million scam robocalls are made daily. And they do work because I read that 60 million Americans lost over $29 billion to these scam phone calls.

But there are scam religious things as well. Scam counterfeits out there for the real gospel. Just as there is the genuine, there is also the counterfeit. They claim to be one thing, but they really are another. Jesus called them wolves in sheep's clothing. In fact, one of the signs of the end times, which I believe we're in, is some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and the doctrines that demons teach.

And that is why we're told right here in 1 John 4, don't believe every spirit, test them, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Now what is John referring to when he says spirits? How do we test a spirit? Well, basically he's talking about angelic beings. There's a supernatural realm. Just as we live in a physical world, there is a spiritual world.

And in this spiritual world, there of course is God and Satan, but also angels and fallen angels, also known as demons. And they're actively at work. The good news is we have more angels on our side than the devil has on his side. And angels are constantly doing the work of God, sort of working behind the scenes. They just show up, do what they're there to do and go. They're sort of like Seal Team Six. You don't even know they were there, but they're doing the work of God.

The Bible says the angel of the Lord encamps around those that fear Him. And it also tells us that they're ministering spirits sent to minister to those who are the heirs of salvation. That would be us. Sometimes angels guide us, occasionally they speak to us, they often protect us, and they're actively at work in our lives.

But then there are fallen angels also known as demons doing the work of the devil. I mentioned last time that the purpose of demons seems to be twofold: they seek to hinder the purposes of God and extend the power of Satan. Now they come in different ways. We always think of something demonic as dark and sinister and evil, and it can be that of course.

But it can also come through the guise of something that seems virtuous and good, even religious. Don't forget that Satan, also known as Lucifer, was once an angel of light. I mean, what is more virtuous than going and getting a wonderful education at one of our Ivy League universities? But my question is, what is going on in these universities today like Harvard and Yale?

Did you know that the mission statement of Harvard University when it was founded back in 1646 went as follows? "Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life." Mission statement of Harvard. So how are they doing on that?

And then there's Yale, very similar. Their mission statement is: "Every student shall consider the main end of this study to wit to know God in Jesus Christ and answerably to lead a godly, sober life." Wow. What happened in our universities? They've become centers of confusion promoting woke ideology, anti-American sentiment. Worst of all, anti-Christian sentiment. And they're a hotbed of anti-Semitism.

I mean, how can you explain the fact that after October 7th, when the people of Israel were attacked by Hamas, a terrorist organization funded by Iran, and 1,200 Israelis lost their lives—men, women, children, some of them were tortured and unspeakable things were done to them. So you would think there would be a global day of mourning afterwards, but instead we see demonstrations against Israel and for the terrorist organization with banners that say things like "Free Palestine" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

Do people even know what the river is and the sea is that they talk about? Let's just do a brief history lesson on what's actually going on in that part of the world. Technically, if you want to look at the biggest picture, all of that land should be under the Jewish people because God gave it to them. But they only occupy a very small section of it, about the size of New Jersey.

And they're in Gaza over near the ocean where the Palestinian people live. The Israelis left that area back in 2005. They withdrew their military, they withdrew settlers, they even uprooted graves and moved everything back to Israel and they gave the reins, they gave the keys if you will, to the Palestinians saying, "This is your territory. We'll continue to supply you with electricity and water and humanitarian aid, but this is yours now."

So the Palestinian people elected Hamas, a terrorist organization, to represent them. And Hamas created a launchpad for terrorism. You say, "Greg, this is political." This is accurate. And if you look this information up, you'll find out what I'm telling you is true. They built elaborate tunnels with the millions of dollars that were given to them for humanitarian aid, and they used them as ways to get into Israel and attack the people. But it all culminated on October 7th with that horrific attack with the loss of so many lives.

So when we say, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," what's in between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River? That tiny little country called Israel. What they mean when they say "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" is: we don't want Israel. We don't want these Jews here anymore.

Iran, the sponsor of Hamas who represents the Palestinian people, have repeatedly said they want to build a nuclear weapon with the intent of wiping Israel off the face of the map. They've said it over and over again. They call America the great Satan, and they call Israel the little Satan. So this is a situation. Well, what about a two-state solution?

I think most Israelis would like a two-state solution, but the problem is, if the representatives of the Palestinian people say Israel does not have the right to exist, how do you enter into a negotiation? Let's say you and I decide to be friends and let's go out for dinner and you say, "Greg, but I just want to let you know, you do not have the right to exist and I would rather you are dead." Okay, this is not going to be a great relationship, is it?

So you see the challenges that are there. And I believe there's a spiritual dynamic behind all of this. I believe this is a spiritual battle that we're seeing right now. And that's why we should not believe every spirit. We need to be discerning and we need to be informed and educated.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We really enjoy hearing when people appreciate the various resources from Harvest Ministries.

Guest (Female): Hi Pastor Greg. We just watched an episode of your animated series, Ben Born Again and Yellow Dog, and my kids were hooked. What a great way to share the gospel in a kid-friendly way. Even adults can learn by watching these videos. Congrats, Pastor Greg, and may the Lord continue to use you and your ministry for His glory.

Guest (Male): Has Pastor Greg heard from you? Why not drop him an email and let us know. Send it to Greg@Harvest.org. Again, that's Greg@Harvest.org. And watch the adventures of Ben Born Again and Yellow Dog on the Harvest Plus app.

Well today, Pastor Greg helps us evaluate our own spiritual discernment. It's a lesson on testing the spirits. Here's Pastor Greg once again.

Greg Laurie: 1 John chapter 4. "Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God, for there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God. If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. If somehow they claim to be a prophet but does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here."

Point number one if you are taking notes: we are in a spiritual war. John speaks of the Antichrist and antichrists plural. The Antichrist, a coming world leader, will emerge on the scene. And when he comes, he'll bring temporary peace. He'll help the Jews rebuild their temple. And then he will desecrate that rebuilt temple with what is called the abomination of desolation spoken of in Matthew 24 by Jesus.

And this is where the Antichrist will erect an image of himself and command people to worship him. So in effect, he'll show his true colors. So this is that coming world leader, the Antichrist. But then there's antichrists that John refers to. And remember the prefix anti doesn't just mean against, though it includes that. What it also means is instead of.

So John is saying in the last days you're going to see a lot of instead of Christs, or fake Christs, or someone pretending to be Christ or represent him. And so this is something we need to be aware of. So John is refuting a teaching of that time that was called Gnosticism. It's from the Greek word *gnosis*, which means to know.

So Gnostics believed that salvation came through this hidden spiritual knowledge. They did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God walking this earth. They believed you had to get this hidden spiritual knowledge and then you would know. That's *gnosis*. You would know.

So it's a funny thing. John takes their word from them and uses it to show how we can know God and he uses the word *gnosis* 30 times in his epistle. You can know this for sure. You don't need the secret password. You don't need the hidden knowledge. But then he lays down this litmus test if you will, as to how to know whether or not something is really true.

Here it is, 1 John 4:2: "If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God." Listen to this. To be a Christian, you must believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, supernaturally conceived in her womb. The virgin birth is an essential.

And then you must believe that he was fully God and fully man walking among us. And then you must believe that he died on the cross and bodily rose again from the dead three days later and that he's coming back again. These are non-negotiables that every Christian should believe. You say, "Well, everyone believes that. In fact, every religion teaches that." No, actually they don't.

If you were to take even a quick look at the major religions of the world, you would see they have very different views on the person of Jesus. As an example, Hinduism teaches Jesus may be admired as a wise teacher or a holy man, possibly as a god among many other gods, but it does not show him to be the one true God or the exclusive Savior. Well, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father but by me." And he said, "I and the Father are one." So that's clearly a different view than what the Bible teaches about Christ.

Buddhism teaches Jesus is not divine. He's sort of an enlightened teacher, maybe a moral example, but they have no real belief in a personal God in most Buddhist schools. Now Mormonism, which will often present itself as a form of Christianity, has a whole different view. They teach Jesus is the Son of God. He was created by God the Father, but he's not equal with the Father.

Jesus said, "I and the Father are one," claiming equality, but they say he's not equal with the Father. And they teach that Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers. And they deny the Trinity. The Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus is not God, but rather he's the Archangel Michael in human form. They deny the Trinity and they deny the bodily resurrection of Christ.

Now here's another thing: Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses teach that they're the only way to God. And so when a Mormon says, "Well, I'm a Christian too," if they're honest, they would say, "But we have our prophet Joseph Smith, and we have our extra books that you don't have that are equal to the Scripture, and you have to come this way if you want a relationship with God."

So the reason I tell you all this is I'm looking at the litmus test of 1 John and all of these are contrary to what John says. These are sort of like modern versions of Gnosticism. And what does John emphasize? He's saying, "Listen, I want you to know God." In fact, in 1 John 5:13, he says, "We wrote these things to you that believe in the name of the Son of God so you may *gnosko*."

So you may know you have eternal life. You can know this for sure. He repeats it again, 1 John 2:3: "By this we know that we know Him." And then in 1 John 3:14: "We know we have passed from death to life." So he's focusing on this and emphasizing it. It's no secret. Anyone has access to it. You don't need a secret password.

You probably heard this story before, but there's a man named Stefan Thomas, a German-born programmer who lives in San Francisco. He was given over 7,000 Bitcoins back in 2011 as payment for making a video that explains how cryptocurrency works. And at that time, Bitcoin was worth very little, but all of a sudden it was worth a lot more. In fact, it was worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

But this individual took that Bitcoin and he put it in a digital wallet. I'm not even sure what that is exactly. But to get the money, to access the Bitcoin, you had to have the password, which he wrote down on a piece of paper and then lost it. I'm not laughing at his misfortune, but really you have that much money in an account and you lost the password?

And I wonder what password he tried. "Password"? That's a good password. Or the name of your pet. He couldn't remember his password. He tried eight times to get in. He has two times left and if he doesn't come up with the proper password, he will never have access to all that money. And that's sort of how it can seem in this relationship with God. You don't have the password.

Here's the good news: Jesus already took care of all of these things for you. You don't have to worry about them at all. You don't need secret codes or anything else. Jesus entered your password. He paid the price and he has given you open access to God.

Point number two: God is bigger and greater than everyone and everything else. God is bigger and God is greater than everyone and everything else. Look at 1 John 4:4: "But you belong to God, my dear children. You've already won a victory over these people because," and I love this verse, "greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world."

Memorize that verse. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Let's say it together. "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world." The one that's in you is Christ. The one that is in the world is Satan, or anyone or anything else that you think is a threat. Christ is greater than all of that. He's greater than Satan, greater than sin, greater than your problem.

Here are three biblical examples of God's people overcoming their adversary. Moses at the Red Sea. Wow. He's at the brink of this massive body of water he can't get across. Behind him in hot pursuit is the Egyptian army. He's literally between a rock and a hard place. And he calls out to God and God says, "I will fight for you. You only need to be still." And the Red Sea parted.

You know the story. So all of Israel passed through the dry bed of the Red Sea and the waters were piled up on each side. You ever been to one of those really nice aquariums, like the Monterey Aquarium? They have these giant tanks with all these exotic creatures. Imagine walking through the Red Sea going, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's cool! Get my camera, hurry!" And meanwhile Moses is going, "Keep walking, keep walking, let's go, let's go, let's go."

They get to the other side, the last Israeli gets over and the waters close on the pursuing Egyptian army. Think of David facing Goliath. What an adversary. Nine feet six inches of solid muscle. Yet David trusted in the Lord and said, "You have defied the armies of Israel," and he attacked him and Goliath was defeated.

Think of the disciples on the Sea of Galilee. A violent storm hits and they're pitching about in that little boat. And Jesus stands up and rebukes the sea and says, "Peace, be still." Jesus was bigger than that storm. God is bigger and God is greater than everyone and everything else.

Guest (Male): Such great reassurance today here on A New Beginning. Pastor Greg Laurie has been pointing out where we stand in the spiritual battle that surrounds us. And there's more to come as this message continues. It's great comfort to know that we're on the winning side, but it's a good time to check yourself and consider whether you really belong to the Lord. Is he really your Savior and your Lord? Pastor Greg, if someone wants to come to the Lord and have that kind of relationship, what would you say to them?

Greg Laurie: I would say that God is just a prayer away. It doesn't take years to become a Christian. It doesn't take months. Frankly, it doesn't even take hours. It can happen so quickly. It just starts with you saying to God: "I know I'm a sinner. I know that you love me. I know that you sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sin and pay for those sins and then to rise again from the dead. And I want Him to come into my life."

So here's my question to you: have you done that yet? Because Jesus, who did die on that cross and rose again from the dead three days later, is alive and standing at the door of your life right now and He's knocking. And He's saying, "If you'll hear my voice and open the door, I will come in."

Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to know that when you die you will go to heaven? Do you want Christ to come into your life right now? If so, why don't you just stop whatever it is you're doing and pray this prayer with me. You could pray it out loud, you can pray it in the quietness of your own heart, but pray this prayer to God.

Say, "Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. But I know that you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I'm sorry for my sin and I turn from it now. And I choose to follow you from this moment forward. I ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen."

Listen, if you just prayed that prayer, the Bible promises that God has heard your prayer and has answered that prayer. The Bible says if we will confess our sin, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So God bless you. You've made the right decision. The decision to follow Jesus Christ.

Guest (Male): Yeah, that's right. And as you begin to live this new life, we want to send you something to help you get started off right. It's Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible. It's an easy-to-understand translation plus hundreds and hundreds of study helps especially for those who are new to the faith. It'll answer the questions you may have.

So get in touch for your copy of the New Believer's Bible. We'll send it free of charge. Just call us at 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 on "Know God."

And then let us say a word of thanks to those who support us financially. Those who make it possible for us to bring you these studies each day. We are definitely a listener-supported ministry. It's the generosity of listeners that helps us be here with these programs. So if you've partnered with us, thank you.

And if you have yet to partner with us, well, I hope you'll get in touch today and let us know that you're standing with us. Even a small investment would help. It's actually an investment in changing lives. Thank you for partnering with us. You can donate securely online at Harvest.org or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300. Again, that's 1-800-821-3300.

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 next time, more from Pastor Greg's Unshakeable series and his message called "When Love Moves In, Fear Moves Out." Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie.