The First Jesus Movement - (#1 of 2)

Guest (Male): Believers are to be salt and light, to influence our world for the kingdom. But Pastor Greg Laurie points out we can’t influence our community if we are isolated from our community. We need to go out and permeate our culture. We need Christians in the arts. We need Christians in politics. We need Christian doctors, lawyers, and businesspeople. Instead of isolating, we need to be infiltrating. That’s what’s needed in the world today. Before COVID, few of us had ever been subjected to a quarantine. But that experience effectively isolated us in a bubble. In a spiritual sense, sometimes believers are constantly isolated from the world in a self-imposed quarantine. We don’t want to be of the world, so we try not to be in the world. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out how that neglects one of our most important responsibilities. It’s the kickoff of a new series in Acts called The Upside Down Life.
Greg Laurie: I think we would all agree that our world is a mess right now. There’s global instability. We see Bible prophecy being fulfilled before our very eyes. And then you have the breakdown of the family, and the redefinition of the family, and even the redefinition of the sexes. It reminds me of what Scripture says in Isaiah 5:20 when it says, "What sorrow for those who say evil is good and good is evil. For those who say that dark is light and light is dark and bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter." I mean, that is the way it is right now. Things that are virtuous and wonderful are mocked and derided. Things that are evil and wicked are celebrated and promoted in our classrooms, in our culture. And you can become very frustrated by all this. Now, add to this a global pandemic and shake it up, and you have a lot of trouble. What are we to do in a time like this? Well, it’s clear what the Bible says. It says when you see these things begin to happen, watch and pray. And we’re also told to look up because our redemption is drawing near. Here’s the answer. We need divine intervention in our nation. We need divine intervention in our world. We need another spiritual awakening desperately. And that’s what we should be praying for. That’s what we should be praying for right now. We need another Jesus movement. And when we hear the phrase Jesus movement, our minds race back to the late '60s, early '70s, and we think of the hippies with their long hair and their bell-bottoms and their beads. I never wore beads, really. But all those things we think of in the '60s. But I want to go further back. There was long hair and there were beards, but no bell-bottoms. But most importantly, guess who started the first Jesus movement? Jesus Himself started it. And it was a very dark backdrop when it happened the first time. Mighty Rome ruled the world with an iron fist. Immorality was rampant. In Roman cities like Corinth, thousands of prostitutes would walk the street. Idolatry, spiritism, and demon worship all were openly practiced. Add to this the fact that the religious establishment was completely corrupt. Sounds like a good time for a Jesus movement. And who starts it but Jesus Himself? He bursts on the scene, fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament, giving the greatest teachings ever heard, performing miracles, and openly declaring Himself as the Messiah. His followers numbered in the thousands. His name was on everyone’s lips. And then, seemingly, it appeared that the whole thing came off the rails. Jesus is betrayed by one of His own followers. He’s brought before religious authorities with false, trumped-up charges, ultimately placed into the hands of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, who has Jesus flogged and then sent to be crucified. But actually, God was at work in everything that was happening. Because if people read the prophecies carefully, they would discover the Messiah would first suffer, Messiah would die, Messiah would rise again from the dead. And these demoralized, discouraged disciples that were beginning to scatter were now empowered by the Spirit, and the church was born. And that’s really what the book of Acts is all about. It’s about the birth of the first-century church. And this church changed their world. So Rome tried to suppress them. Rome tried to stop them. And a wave of persecutions came against the church, starting with the wicked and twisted Caesar Nero and eventually ending with Diocletian. Caesar Nero was so depraved, he took Christians and covered them in pitch and set them on fire to light his garden as he rode around in his chariot screaming with delight. The Roman Emperor Diocletian was so certain that he had effectively eradicated Christianity, he had a special coin struck with these words, quote, "The Christian religion is destroyed and the worship of the Roman gods is restored." Famous last words. Where’s Rome today? Mighty Rome was reduced to ruins, but the church marches on and always will because the gates of hell will not prevail against us. The gates of hell will not prevail against us. The church continues to march. And when persecution comes, it actually strengthens the church. So Rome, what do we know of Rome? What do we remember of Rome? We name our children after apostles and our dogs after Roman emperors, right? "Here, Caesar! Come on, Caesar! Caesar, sit!" What do we know of Rome today? Caesar salad? Little Caesars Pizza? Not much left. But the church continues to grow. And within thirty years, the original 120 followers of Jesus and their converts changed the world. How did they do it? Answer: through upside-down living. They turned the world upside down. That’s why we’re calling this *The Upside Down Life*. In fact, there’s an interesting statement given to us in Acts chapter 17, verse 6. It was a criticism, when the religious leaders said, "Paul and Silas have turned the rest of the world upside down and now they’re entering our city." That criticism was, in effect, the greatest compliment of all. "These guys, they’re turning the world upside down and now they’re entering our city." This is what you call a complisult. Do you know what a complisult is? It’s when someone compliments you, but really it’s kind of an insult. A few days ago, I was at the Orange County Fair with my family and Levi Lusko and his family. So there was the thing where you bring the hammer down and ring the bell, right? So we went to that and Levi said, "Greg, you want to do it?" I said, "Sure." So he went first. He didn’t ring the bell. Then it was my turn. I rang the bell. Then Levi went again. He still didn’t ring the bell. I went again. I rang the bell. Levi says, "You know what that is? It’s old man strength." That’s a complisult. He acknowledges my strength, but it’s old man strength, right? It’s like someone says to you, "You look great for your age." Yeah, that’s kind of a complisult for sure. Or you say to someone, "You’re actually on time! I’m amazed," which means they’re usually late. "You’re a really good driver, for a woman." Don’t say that. That’s a complisult. Or saying to somebody, "You look so great, why are you still single?" I mean, what is that all about? Don’t say that. "Oh wow, you look really nice for a change." Another complisult. "Your hair looks great when you actually do something with it." Implication: they don’t normally do something with it. And by the way, I never hear that compliment about the hair. But here’s the point. This was meant as an insult, but it was the ultimate compliment.
Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We really enjoy hearing when Pastor Greg’s teaching and preaching touches lives.
Guest (Female): Hi, Pastor Greg. I love listening to your podcasts as they help me grow in my walk with Christ. You are one of the first pastors I’ve ever listened to that actually held my attention because of the way you share Scripture, your stories, and especially your humor. Thank you for letting God use you. You have helped me greatly in times of confusion and I’ve grown closer to God because of your messages. Thank you so much and God bless you.
Guest (Male): When we hear from you, it’s not only a blessing, it also confirms that the program is making an impact. If you have a story to share, call Pastor Greg and let him know. Call 1-866-871-1144. Again, 866-871-1144. Well, as Pastor Greg presents his opening message in the book of Acts, he’s pointing out how those first-century believers were impacting their culture.
Greg Laurie: And it says there in Acts 17:6, "They’re disturbing our city." We need to disturb more cities with the gospel. That’s what’s needed in the world today. We need a holy disturbance. Bible commentary G. Campbell Morgan said, and I quote, "Organized Christianity which fails to make a disturbance is dead," end quote. That’s true. You know, the fact of the matter is wherever Paul the apostle went, something happened. It was either conversion or a riot. It was action constantly. And think about this: these guys didn’t have all the tools we have at our disposal. Thomas did not tweet. Paul did not have a Facebook page. Peter did not have an Instagram page or a YouTube channel. But yet, they were able to change their world. And here’s an amazing thing to think about. For the first time in human history, our generation literally has the ability to fulfill the Great Commission in our lifetime. Have you ever thought about that? We literally have the ability—the Great Commission—to get the gospel out with all the tools of tech, with all the mass media. We can do more than we could ever do before. But the point of the matter here is these guys didn’t have any of that tech and look what they did. They permeated their culture. Everyone was aware of their faith. Tertullian, a church leader, wrote these words around 200 of the early church, quote, "We have filled every place among you: cities, islands, fortresses, towns, marketplaces, the very camp, tribes, companies, palaces, the Senate, the Forum." And then he says, "We’ve left nothing to you but the temples of your gods," end quote. See, here’s the way the early church thought. Everybody had a part to play. Everybody had a role to fulfill. Everybody had gifts to discover and use. And it’s the same for us today. We need to go out and permeate our culture. We need Christians in the arts, making music, film, and doing graphic design. We need Christians in politics, bringing godly wisdom into the leadership of our nation because the Bible says when the righteous rule, the people rejoice. We need Christian doctors, lawyers, and businesspeople. Instead of isolating, we need to be infiltrating. Every Christian in the church of the first century, at least most of them, understood they had to do their part. And as we read the book of Acts, and we’ll do that in the weeks ahead, what happens may seem radical to us at times. But in a way, it wasn’t radical at all because anything short of that is a watered-down version. So we need this radical, upside-down Christianity today. And that has to start in our life. Yes, we need a revival, but before revival can start in the church, it needs to start in you and it needs to start in me. So let’s look now at a few verses from the book of Acts, chapter 1. I’m going to read verses 1 to 4 and share some points with you. And I’m reading from the New Living Translation. "In my first book I told you, Theophilus," Luke writes, "about everything Jesus began to do and teach until the day He was taken up to heaven after giving His chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. During the forty days after He suffered and died, He appeared to the apostles from time to time, and He proved to them in many ways He was actually alive. And He talked to them about the kingdom of God." Okay, we’ll stop there. Here’s point number one, if you’re taking notes: before you can change the world, you yourself must first be changed. Before you can change the world, you must first be changed. Look at verse 3: "During the forty days after He suffered and died, He appeared to the apostles." The apostles. Now, when we think of these guys, we see them in stained glass, standing on pedestals: Peter, James, John, Andrew, Matthew, later Paul. The list goes on—these great men of God. But one thing we see clearly in the Gospels and in the book of Acts is these guys were humans just like we are. They had their shortcomings, they made their mistakes. But God used them. We say, "Oh, but they were saints. I can’t connect to them, I can’t relate to them." Well, they were saints, but technically you’re a saint too. Heard about a Sunday school teacher that was talking to her class and she said, "Hey kids, can anyone tell me what a saint is?" Little girl raised her hand up. Teacher called on her and the little girl said, thinking of the stained-glass windows with the saints in them, she said, "Saints, those are people that the light shines through." And that’s true. That’s all a saint is. A saint is a true believer. You’re a saint, I’m a saint, we’re all saints, and we can be used by God as well. Listen, the greatness of the disciples was not because of who they were; it’s because God put His hand on them. It’s almost as though the Lord went out of His way to find the most ordinary people to do the most extraordinary things through. 1 Corinthians 1:26, Paul says, "Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women at the culture overlooks? God chose these nobodies to expose the hollow pretensions of the somebodies." Interesting insight there. I heard the other day that a while ago now, but someone paid one million dollars for a Fender Stratocaster guitar. Now, this is a very popular guitar and they normally would cost you somewhere around 600 dollars to 1,500 dollars. But this guy paid one million dollars for a Fender Strat. Why? Because it was the guitar that Bob Dylan played at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. And this was a defining moment because Dylan was known to play acoustic guitar and his harmonica. But he busted out a Fender Stratocaster, plugged it in, and all the folk purists freaked out. And they thought it was some form of heresy in their folky world. But that became a seminal moment in rock history, thus the guitar sold for one million dollars. Maybe that makes a little more sense than some guy that bought a piece of a burned-up Fender Stratocaster. That one was played by Jimi Hendrix at the Monterey Pop Festival, and at the end of playing the song *Wild Thing*, Hendrix poured lighter fluid on it, set it on fire, and threw pieces of it into the audience. Some guy grabbed a piece and that piece of the guitar was sold later for 380,000 dollars. Okay, so here’s the point. The value clearly was not in a burned-up piece of a guitar. The value is in who played the guitar. See, if I pick up a guitar and play it and try to sell it, it goes down in value. But if Eric Clapton picked up the same guitar and played it, it goes up in value. Jesus did not call these men who became apostles because they were great. They became great because Jesus called them. That’s the difference. And God wants to use you. Maybe you’re like a burned-out guitar. Maybe you don’t have a lot to bring to the table. You don’t have a lot to offer to the Lord. God can work through you. So these apostles, they had their lives changed when they saw Jesus risen from the dead. See, they never thought they would see Jesus again when they looked at His beaten, traumatized body hanging on the cross of Calvary. Which according to Isaiah 53, as the prophet spoke prophetically, He was so beaten and marred and traumatized you could not even tell He was a man. But Jesus rose again and appeared many times over a forty-day period. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, who came to anoint His dead body at the tomb. He appeared after that to Simon Peter. Then He appeared in the upper room to the disciples, and specifically to Thomas, who said, "I won’t believe until I can put my hand in the wounds in His side." He appeared to two disciples walking on the Emmaus road. He appeared to Simon Peter again at the Sea of Galilee, telling him to feed God’s sheep. And He appeared to over 500 people at one time. This transformed them. Jesus was basically popping up everywhere and they knew He was alive and they knew He had risen. You see, before they could change the world, Jesus needed to change them. And 1 John 1:1 says, John writing, "We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw Him with our own eyes and we touched Him with our own hands. He is the Word of Life." Listen to this: if you want people to follow Jesus, you must be a good example as a follower of Jesus. Example: would you go to a dentist with half of his teeth missing? You couldn’t even understand what he was saying. "I think I can fix your tooth." "What? What, sir, happened to your teeth?" He tells you, "Well, I never really brushed or took care of my teeth." Well, I don’t want you to do dental work on me. How about this one: would you go to a music teacher who was tone-deaf? Would you go to a gym and have as your trainer someone who was morbidly obese? I don’t think so. You would want that person to be an example of what it is they’re teaching you to do, right? So in the same way, we say to people, "Follow Jesus." Well, they’re looking at you. They’re looking to see if you yourself are following Jesus. Paul said, "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ" in 1 Corinthians 11:1. So first, it must happen to us.
Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie with the first lesson of many to come from our new study series in the book of Acts, a series called *The Upside Down Life*. And we’ll bring the whole series your way here on *A New Beginning*. And Pastor Greg, we’ve been talking about sharing the good news, the gospel. What about the person listening who has never responded to the gospel? They’ve never come to that point of entering into a relationship with the Lord. They’re open to it, but just haven’t made that change. Someone can enter into that kind of relationship today, can’t they?
Greg Laurie: They can, and it’s so simple. And I think because it’s so simple, people think, "Oh, it can’t be that easy." Well, look, Jesus did all the heavy lifting. He carried the cross for you. He died on that cross that He carried. This isn’t about what you do; it’s about what He’s done. But here’s what the Bible says: whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So let’s just say that you’re caught in a rip tide out in the ocean and you need help, and there’s a lifeguard at the stand and they see you. You’ve got to call out to them and let them know you need saving. And the same is true when it comes to eternal life. Jesus is ready to save you. Will you call out to Him? You say, "Well, okay, how do I do that?" You do it through prayer. And prayer is just talking to God. So listen, I’d like to lead you in a simple prayer. And if you pray this prayer after me, I believe God will hear it and answer it and Christ will come to live inside of you. Thousands of people have prayed a prayer like this over the years that we’ve been doing this radio broadcast and have seen their life change. There’s no power or magic in a prayer. It’s all about your commitment to Christ, but this is a way to call on the name of the Lord in this prayer. So if you want Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of your sin, if you want to know that you’ll go to heaven when you die, if you want to fill that big hole in your heart, just pray this prayer after me. You could pray it out loud if you like, pray it in the quietness of your heart, but pray these words if you would. 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. I am sorry for my sin and I turn from it now. And I choose to follow You from this moment forward. Be my Savior and my Lord. Be my God and my friend. Thanks for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Listen, if you just prayed that prayer, I want you to know that God has heard you and has answered it. The Bible says these things we write to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. That you may know it’s yours now. God has given it to you because it’s the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Congratulations and welcome to the family of God.
Guest (Male): Yeah, that’s right. And listen, we want to help you get started in this new relationship with the Lord. Would you let us send you something? It’s free of charge. It’s Pastor Greg’s *New Believer’s Bible*. Scores of people have read this edition of God’s Word. New believers love the study helps written just for them and they appreciate that it’s in an easy-to-understand translation. We’ll send it to you today. Just ask for the *New Believer’s Bible* when you call 1-800-821-3300. You can call anytime, 1-800-821-3300. Or write *A New Beginning*, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or go online to harvest.org. 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. Well, next time, more insights to help us reach out and impact our culture from this new series in the book of Acts. Join us here on *A New Beginning* with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.