Greg Lorry and Harvest Ministries recommend a new resource from best-selling author Max Lucato dealing with your thought life.
So many people have Max Lucato books already in their library, but this is his brand new book to help you learn how to team your thoughts. Our thoughts really ultimately affect pretty much everything. And folks, we want to offer you this book by Max Lucato. Team Your Thoughts. for a gift of any amount at harvest.org.
A phrase you hear used today is deconstructing. People will say I'm deconstructing My faith. I'm dismantling my faith. That's not good. A faith that needs to be torn apart and cast aside.
was never a faith we should have built our lives on. Coming up today, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us make a new beginning. If your faith collapses, maybe it's because it was never constructed on Christ to start with. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Again, you hear all the angels are singing. This is the day, the day will I begin. Every time something huge happens in the world. People start asking Wait, is this it?
Is Armageddon about to begin?
Well today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie examines what the Bible actually says about the end times. and why we don't need to panic. God's not caught off guard by any of this. He's had a plan from the very start. And that plan includes you.
Your peace, your hope. and your future. It's a reassuring reminder you don't want to miss. This is the day, the day when life begins first John chapter 2. Two.
In chapter two, clearly shows us that we're living in the last days. All around us are signs of the times pointing to the fact that Jesus is coming again. There are some very positive signs. That would suggest we might be on the verge of another spiritual awakening in America and even the world. And then there's some.
frightening signs That shows the conflicts around the world, showing that these events we read about could happen in real time before our very eyes. It reminds me of the introduction of Charles Dickens to his book, A Tale of Two Cities. He describes France. before the Revolutionary War. And he states These things and their familiar statements.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was a season of light. It was a season of darkness. It was a spring of hope. It was the winter of despair. Reminds us of the time we're living in right now.
And now we read what John has to say in 1 John 2, verse 18: little children, it is the last hour. And as you heard, that the antichrist is coming, even now, many antichrists have come, by which we know that this is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out. That it might be made manifest that none of them were of us.
We'll stop there. Point number one: the Antichrist is coming. The Bible Does teach a world figure will emerge on the scene. That is called the beast. The wicked one.
And also the Antichrist. He will deceive millions of people at first. He'll seem like a good guy. But he'll turn out to be the worst guy. If Satan ever had a son, this is him.
He'll appear as a peacemaker, but he'll end up being the worst troublemaker that ever lived. And he'll be energized by the devil himself. Revelation 13, 2 says, That the dragon, who's also explained to be Satan in another chapter, will give him his authority. And really, he's an imitation. Whatever God does, Satan will try to imitate.
So God has his only begotten son. Satan, in effect, will have his son. And we have this false Christ that will be out there, and also there will be other imitations as well. He's not going to be what you might expect, dressed head to toe in black with Flaming red eyes and steam coming up, and the Darth Vader theme playing in the background as he quotes ACDC lyrics or something like that. He'll probably be very attractive.
Very charismatic. Very intelligent. But he is a deceiver. And a lot of times, people will try to figure out who the Antichrist is, but I don't think we should waste our time or energy doing that. Uh He cannot be revealed until the church is caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and what we often call the rapture of the church.
The Bible says he who now restrains will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way, and then that wicked one will be revealed-that's Antichrist, whom the Lord will destroy with the brightness of his coming. The restraining force in the world today is the Holy Spirit working through the church. Godly men and women that speak up for what is true, they speak out against what is wrong. And once we're removed, once we're caught up to meet the Lord in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, then Antichrist can. Enter the scene and do his thing.
So, don't waste your time looking for Antichrist. Do what the Bible says: look for Jesus Christ. That's what our focus should be. Point number two: Antichrists, plural. are already here.
Antichrists are here already because John not only speaks of the Antichrist, the beast, that world leader, but antichrists.
Now keep this in mind. The prefix anti doesn't just mean against, it also means instead of.
So we could call them instead of Christian. Christ's or imitation Christ, if you will. Don't forget in the beginning of Matthew 24, known as the Olivet Discourse. Jesus said, the sign of the last days is many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ.
So instead of Christ, people are always looking for a substitute for Christ. Mark Zuckerberg of Meta. Uh says we don't have enough friends. Maybe he doesn't have enough friends, I don't know, but uh. We don't have enough friends, and so instead of going out and socializing and making some more friends, he says the solution is AI.
We need more robots because AI knows us better than friends, because they do a better job of knowing our likes and preferences. Oh, so I'm supposed to have a cappuccino with my Roomba now instead of go meet a friend somewhere. I mean, you know, really? This is to me anti-Christ thinking. Understand what I'm saying?
Instead of Christ thinking. I'm looking for substitutes for Christ, other things to look to instead of. Jesus. And this is what we should not be doing. The greatest deception is not atheism, it's instead of Christ thinking.
A sign of the end times. will be pretend believers. Imitation Christians. 1 Timothy 4.1 says, The Spirit speaks clearly, And in the last time, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines that demons teach. A phrase you hear used today.
is deconstructing. People will say, I'm deconstructing My faith. I'm dismantling my faith. I'm questioning my faith. And why are they doing this?
Because I've experienced church hurt. Oh really? Yeah, I was heard in church.
Okay, well, look, if you were hurt in church, I'm sorry that happened to you. The church is full of Broken people just like you. And things do happen.
So maybe you were hurt in church, but I hope you don't give up on the church. Jesus hasn't. And if you're looking for the perfect church, please don't join it. Because you'll ruin it. Because we're all flawed, but I wonder sometimes if this so-called church hurt.
Is actually not some hurt that came from the church, but because you heard something you didn't like.
Well, I felt judged.
Okay, well, what happened exactly?
Well, maybe...
Someone said to you, Hey, why are you living with your boyfriend? That's fornication, that's sin. And you're saying, wait, hold on. What do you mean? You're judging me.
I'm leaving this church. Hey, you should thank that person for telling you the truth. You're not going to get truth in that culture out there right now, but you'll hear it from the Word of God in the church. And if someone is bold enough to tell you what you are doing is sinful, that's not church hurt. That's keeping you from hurting yourself.
Right? Think about it. You see, because the Bible says, faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Open rebuke is better than secret love. If I really love someone, I'll tell them what's true.
We all need some friends that will do that. You know, that will say, hey, you know, you look horrible in that outfit, or you shouldn't have said that, or whatever they do, they're true friends that will tell you the truth. It'd be like going to a doctor. And I don't like what the doctor said.
So I said, I have Dr. Hurt. The doctor is trying to keep you from hurting. Maybe you should listen to them. I went to see a doctor on the doctor.
a while ago who told me that I need hip replacement surgery. I need a new hip. Great.
So now I've gone from being a hippie to needing a hip replacement. Perfect. I've gone from acid rock to acid reflux. Come on. And my wife had it done already, so I know what to expect, but I don't want to go get this surgery.
I'm postponing it. I've been putting it up, but he's just telling me the truth. He says, Hey, man, you're bone on bone, okay? Bone spurs, even. And he shows me the x-ray, slapped me three times.
I don't know what that was about, but maybe he should have, actually. He didn't do that, but. But, you know, so sometimes we don't like what we're hearing, but they're telling it to us for our own good. But you know, people will get upset.
Well, I don't like what I heard in church. I'm leaving this church. And then they go to another church.
Well, I don't like what I heard there.
Now I'm leaving that church, and they go to another church. I don't like what they're saying, so I'm leaving that church, and we're just going to go home and watch church online.
Okay, now we're not even watching church online. We've just left church and we've left the faith. That's not good. It reminds me of a guy who was stranded on a desert island, and they finally rescued him. And he had built three huts.
He said, Wow, what are these huts?
Well, the first hut is my house.
Okay. What's the second hut? That's why church. Oh, good. What's the third hut?
That's the church I used to go to.
So. That's how we are. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hey everyone, I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a harvest version of Netflix.
We have all of our resources in one place. We have our movies like Steve McQueen, The Salvation of an American Icon, Johnny Cash of Redemption of an American Icon, A Rush of Hope, and much more. Then we have our television program, daily devotions, and much more.
So go and download the Harvest Plus app.
Well, we're talking today about the end times. And making sure our faith and our fellowship with others is in good working order. I think that we need to ask the question: well, if a person walks away from the faith. They leave the church, they abandon their faith. They say they're no longer a Christian.
Has that person lost their salvation? They say, well, they're deconstructing. I suggest maybe they never constructed to start with. Maybe they're not leaving their faith. Maybe they never had faith.
In the very beginning, if your faith collapses, maybe it's because it was never constructed on Christ to start with. See, here's what John says. Again, 1 John 2:19. They went out from us. But they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.
Now let me explain. Christians mess up. Christians lapse. Christians sin. Christians can fall away.
Christians can backslide. Even for. A prolonged period of time. And you can do that and still be a Christian. But if you're a true Christian, eventually you'll come home again.
Just like the prodigal son. He messed up. He sinned, but he came to his senses and said, I've sinned. I'm going to go back to my father and say, Father, I've sinned. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.
Just hire me as a hired hand. And he went home, and of course, his father threw his arms around him and kissed him and welcomed him back as a son. And the father missed his son and longed for his return. But if you walk away from the faith and you never return to the faith, my suggestion is you were never part of the faith to start with. You've not lost your salvation.
Most likely, you never had salvation. That's what John is saying. If they were of us, they would have continued with us. And if they don't continue with us, it shows they were never of us to really begin with.
Okay, so let's shift gears now to chapter 3. 1 John 3. Read along with me. Behold, what manner of love the Father bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know him.
Beloved, Now we are the children of God. And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And I love this final verse that underlines it. If I were you. Everyone that has this hope.
Purifies himself just as he is pure.
So here's point number three: God loves you. More than you could ever know. God loves you. more than you could ever know. You say, I know, because I'm so awesome.
Not really. He loves you because he's so awesome. He loves you with an everlasting love, the Bible says. Therefore, with loving kindness, he has drawn you. Jesus said, For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Then the Apostle Paul personalized it and said, he loved me. And he gave himself for me. Me.
So God loves you. Coming back to the prodigal story. Even when the son had gone astray, the father never stopped loving him. And because God loves you, point number four. He adopted you as his child.
Because he loves you. He adopted you as his child. 1 John 3:1. Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God. By the way, this word behold isn't casual.
It's like John is saying, hey, look at this. Don't miss this. Check this up. Behold. Behold, What kind of love The Father has toward you.
He adopted you into his family. As a boy, I never knew who my biological father was. My mom told me it was a certain man. And I found out about 30 years later, he was not my biological father.
So my mom married and divorced seven different times, and she had a lot of boyfriends in between as well. And none of these so called fathers or men in her life. Ever took any interest in me whatsoever. I mean, they married the beautiful Charlene, my mother. And they got this weird kid that liked to draw cartoons and collect snakes in the deal.
None of them care about me. I don't want to do who's this kid, you know? But there was one man that took an interest in me. One man that cared about me. He cared enough to give me his name, Oscar Laurie, and he adopted me.
And he treated me as a father should treat a son. And that meant a lot to me. And God has adopted you. He chose you, and He adopted you. I heard about two boys, two sons that were arguing, as brothers do.
One was a biological son, one was an adopted son. The biological son said, Dad loves me more than you. Because I have his DNA. And the adopted son said, Yeah, well, guess what? He chose me, he got stuck with you.
God shows you. He picked you out. With a purpose. Adoption is intentional. That's why the Bible says we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but one of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
What does that mean? It means Ava Father is the Hebrew equivalent of daddy or papa. It's an affectionate phrase a child uses of their father. Papa Daddy. And God has given you the spirit of adoption where you can.
Say that to him, where you can say, Abba, Father. When you go to Israel today, you'll see the little kids calling out for their daddy. Abba, they'll say, or Ema for their mother. And so, this is what God has done for you. He's predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will, Ephesians 1:5 tells us.
So, you were adopted, not assigned. You are specifically chosen by God. But aren't we all, some would ask, Children of God, you hear that said often. We're all God's children, right? Yeah.
Kind of. Let me explain. We are God's offspring, the Bible says, which means we're all created by God. We're all loved by God. But only those who have put their faith in Christ can truly say, I am a child of God.
The Bible says, for as many as received him to them he gave the power to become sons of God. And, you know, you can be. In a relationship with God, but not be in fellowship with God. Let me illustrate with uh Popular family drama. Uh Prince Charles, excuse me, King Charles now.
Married Diana. They had two sons. A Harry and William. And William is the heir to the throne, so there's an heir and despair, I suppose. And uh If you follow the story.
Uh you know that uh King Charles is fighting cancer. He has a close relationship with William, his heir apparent. And they're in constant communication. And Harry has moved to California.
So he's about 5,000 miles away from his father. Is Harry a royal son? Of course, he'll always be a royal son, just as William is. But one son has chosen to be in close fellowship and communication with this father. Another son has chosen not to.
So that causes tension and pain, and it breaks the father's heart. I hope they patch things up because the window of reconciliation may not stay open forever. But the point of it is: we choose what kind of relationship we want to have with the father. When we're away from him, it breaks his heart. He longs for communication with us.
And if we will draw near to him, the Bible says he will draw near to us. To us.
So if you feel far from God, Yes, who moved? God didn't move. He's still there. Just like again, the father of the prodigal waiting for the son's return. Longing for his boy to come back home again, and when he did.
The father welcomed him with open arms. And if you find yourself away from God right now, If you find yourself out of fellowship with God right now, the Father, Will welcome you with open arms if you'll turn from your sin and come. to him. Good reassurance from Pastor Greg Laurie today here on A New Beginning. It's from his new series called Unshakable.
And not only will God welcome those who are coming back to Him, He'll welcome those who are coming to him for the first time. That's a truth somebody needs to hear today, Pastor Gregg. That's right. The Bible says, whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
So think of it this way. Maybe you're out in a riptide in the ocean and you can't get your footing and you're in trouble and you see a lifeguard. Call out for help and the lifeguard will rescue you. The same is true spiritually. You're drowning in your sin.
You need help. Jesus will save you. He will rescue you. But you must call out to him. And you know how you do that?
You do it in prayer.
So let me just lead you in a simple prayer, and you can pray this prayer after me. You could pray it out loud if you'd like. And this is where you are calling out to Jesus to save you. Just pray this: Lord Jesus. I know I'm a sinner.
and I know you are the Saviour. Who died on the cross for my sin? and rose again from the dead.
Now, Lord, I turn from my sin and I put my faith in you. Be my Savior, my Lord, be my God and my friend. I choose to follow you. From this moment forward, In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Hey, if you just prayed that prayer, I want you to know that Christ Himself has come to live inside of you. And I have a resource I want to send to you. 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 Believers Growth Pact. But let me get this New Believer's Bible into your hands as quickly as possible. Here's Dave to tell you more. Yeah, we'll be glad to send it all your way free of any charge if you've prayed along with Pastor Greg today.
Just ask for the New Believer's Bible. When you call 1-800-821-3300. You can reach us any time 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click 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.
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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. three three zero zero Hey, everybody, you can watch our Sunday services on a special broadcast that we call Harvest at Home. It's streaming on the Harvest Plus Plus.
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Well, next time, more insights on the importance of faith and fellowship as we await the return of the Lord. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins.
