A New Beginning presents a fascinating book about heaven from Pastor Greg Laurie. I began an extensive study of the topic of heaven. What is it like? What will we do there? Will we see our loved ones again?
Short answer yes, if they're Christians. But I've written about this in detail in a book called As It Is in Heaven.
So if you've had questions about heaven, and I think we all do, I think you ought to order a copy of this book, As It Is in Heaven. Get your copy at harvest.org. We know Jesus gave his life for our sins. We owed a debt we couldn't pay, and he paid a debt he didn't owe. And he did so willingly.
He knew he was going to be beaten beyond human recognition. He knew they would pound spikes in his hands and feet, but I think the thing he recoiled from was the knowledge that he was about to bear all the stinking, rotten sin of humanity. It's going to be poured on the holy Son of God. And yes, from that, he recoiled. This is the day.
And when the lost are found, this is the day for a new beginning. Amy shall sweep the town. But can you hear when the angels are singing? This is the day, the day will I begin. Jesus was arrested and subject to unjust trials before the Jewish leaders and Roman governor Pilate.
Though found innocent, he was sentenced to death to appease the crowd. Jesus was scourged, mocked, and forced to carry his cross to Golgotha. There he was crucified between two criminals, ultimately dying to pay the penalty for our sin. And today on a new beginning. Pastor Greg Laurie shows us it all began with betrayal.
by one of his own disciples. Judas Iscariot, I want to talk about him a little bit. Judas was really what I would call the textbook case. of a hypocrite. A hypocrite is not someone who professes to believe something and then occasionally contradicts it.
That's called humanity and we all do it. A hypocrite is a person who's actually Playing a part. The technical definition of the word hypocrite is actually not negative. It just means actor. A stage actor.
So that's who Judas was. He was playing the part of an apostle. He was playing the part of a believer. But in reality, he was the very opposite of that. In fact, Jesus said of Judas, it would have been better if he had never been born.
And Jesus was the perfect example. Jesus never lost his temper. Jesus never was inconsistent. Jesus never told a lie. Jesus never had a single thought.
Out of harmony with his father, and yet Judas turns against him.
Now the Lord makes his way to Gethsemane. Matthew 26, verse 39, he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, saying, Oh my Father. If it's possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Then he came to his disciples and found them asleep.
And he said to Peter, What? Could you not watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. For the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again, a second time he went away and prayed, saying, O my father, if this cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it, Your will be done.
And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.
So he left them, went away again, prayed the third time, saying the same words. And he came to his disciples and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.
And while he was yet speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve of the great multitude with swords and clubs. Came from the chief priests and elders.
Now, his betrayer had given them a sign saying, Whomever I kiss, he is the one, sees him. Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, Greetings, Rabbi, and kissed him. But Jesus said to him, Friend? Why have you come? Wow.
So here's Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. We can't even begin to fathom what he was going through at this point. He's a stone's throw from Peter, James, and John. They watch him fall on the ground. crying out with Anguish with tears and literally with blood.
Because Dr. Luke, a physician who also is the author of a gospel, said he sweat as it were great drops of blood. And I told you before, this may have been a reference to what we now call hematridrosis. When a person is under intense pressure. They have sweat combined with blood.
Jesus was sweating. Why? Because Jesus knew the future. I'm glad I don't know the future. But Jesus did.
He knew what was coming. He knew he was going to be beaten beyond human recognition. He knew they would rip his beard from his face. He knew they would take a crown of thorns and press it on his forehead. Causing lacerations.
He knew that they would take a Roman whip, most likely the cat of nine tails, and rip into his back 39 times. He knew they would pound spikes in his hands and feet, but I think the thing he recoiled from. Even more than all of that was the knowledge that he Who was Sinless. and holy And perfect, he was about to take upon himself everything that was sinful and unholy and imperfect. He was about to bear the sin of the world.
Listen, your sin's bad enough. Then you had mine, then you had ours, then you had our generation, then you had all generations, you had all the stinking, rotten sin of humanity. It's going to be poured on the holy Son of God. And yes, from that, he recoiled. He didn't want to do it.
But he knew there was no other way. Thus Sweating blood. He prays, Father, if there's any other way. Nevertheless, Not my will, but yours be done.
Sometimes God's will is not easy.
Sometimes we may not agree with God's will. Other times we may not agree with it, but later in life we'll discover it was the right decision. Of course, it always is, but it takes us a while to come around. I remember when I was younger, I would fall in love with girls all the time. They didn't even know it.
I don't even think they knew I existed. As handsome as I was. In my own estimation, Um So I met this one girl. This is after I became a Christian, and I thought she may be the one. This may be the one I'm supposed to marry.
I didn't say that to her, but I was very interested in her, and she was not interested in me at all. And I told God, Lord, I think this is the one. You have to speak to her heart.
Well, nothing happened. And she didn't even want to see me at all.
So that was the end of that. Then I met Kathy. Who I marry. And now we've been happily married for well over 50 years. Despite the fact that she steals food from my plates.
But no But God had his plan. And I look back and then I say, Lord, thank you for not answering that prayer. Have you ever prayed for something and the Lord said no? And now you look back and you say, Lord, thank you for saying no. But the will of God isn't always easy.
And it wasn't for Jesus, but he had to go through with this. And so he's ready to face it. It's interesting in this time in Gethsemane. His first words were actually Abba Father, according to Mark. That's only in Mark's gospel.
Abba Father. And this is really... Tender. Because Amba It's like saying daddy. When you go to Israel today and you see little children, With their mom and dad, they'll say, Abba, Ima.
Which is their way of saying mommy daddy or daddy mommy. And so he's actually here he is. Daddy, father. Papa. Abba.
Tenderness. If there's any other way, let this cut pass. Nevertheless. And so he's drinking this cup. Isaiah called it the cup of his fury.
You drank the dregs of the cup of trembling and drained it out. Have you ever drank anything that turned your stomach? You stick a swig of something. Yeah, this milk looks good. And you found out I wasn't.
or something else that Christ was going to drink this cup. Um Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We love hearing from our listeners. Whether it's a short word or they take some time to tell us what's going on with them, we read every word. Hi, Pastor Greg.
Our son Tanner was baptized at Pirates Cove on August 16th. He attended the Harvest Crusade in Boise, Idaho, a couple of years ago. We praise God for all He's doing in Tanner's life. Thank you for all you do. Do you have a story to share with Pastor Greg?
If so, would you let him know? Send him an email. Greg at harvest.org. That's Greg at harvest.org.
Well, we're considering the events that led up to the Lord's sacrifice at Calvary. from our main text in Matthew 28. Pastor Gregg continues.
Okay, so now, here comes an army to arrest Christ. There may have been as many as a thousand. You have the temple guard, which could number up to 600.
Now you have the Romans reinforcing it.
So you have all of these armed guards with swords and spears and shields and torches. Coming to arrest a man who never broke a single law. And they come to get him. And this is only in John's Gospel, but it really gives us an insight into what was really happening as they close in. Judas says, the one I kiss, he's the one.
Which is interesting because Didn't everybody know what Jesus looked like? I mean, you know, whenever you see a religious painting, you can always pick Jesus out. He's wearing a white robe. And he has a blue sash, right? Remember the blue sash.
Maybe he has a lamb around his neck for good measure. Maybe he's holding a staff. But did you know that Christ was actually. extraordinarily ordinary in physical appearance. Actually, the scripture said he had no beauty that we should desire him.
He was an ordinary-looking man, he did not glow in the dark. He was not 10 feet tall. He looked like any other man. Thus, Judas had to identify him. He kisses him.
They come in now to arrest Christ, but in John's Gospel, we read these words: Jesus said, Who are you looking for? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am. I am.
Now where have we heard that before? In the book of Exodus, Moses at the burning bush. Moses says, Who shall I say hath sent me? God says, I am that I am. He says, I am.
Okay, so. Here's what's fascinating. The Bible says they all fell backwards. Imagine for a moment: shields, swords, spears, torches, and they all fall back like a bunch of dominoes. It's almost comical.
Boom, boom, boom. They're falling on top of each other. I am.
And he could have said, and you were by end of story. With a mere statement from the lips of Jesus, he could have eliminated them all. Or with one word to his father, angels would have been dispatched who would have happily delivered him from these people. But he did not do any of that. Who are you seeking, Jesus of Nazareth?
I am.
Whereas it's translated, I am He.
So now he's arrested.
Now, the way Judas betrayed him with this kiss is so evil. There were different ways they would kiss people back in this culture.
Sometimes you would kiss someone on the feet. A slave would kiss his master's feet. Maybe someone Would go to a king begging for mercy, would kiss the feet of the king. That's not what Judas did. Or you might kiss their cheek or the back of their hand.
But that would imply relationship. But Jesus is kissed by Judas, and in the original language, it's implied he kissed him repeatedly. He kissed him over and over again, showing affection, showing devotion. This is the one, and he kisses him, and he kisses him again, and he kisses him even again. What hypocrisy this was.
It's so frightening that a person's heart could become so hard as to be able to go through these motions and yet betray the Lord. But listen to what Jesus said to Judas in verse 50. Friend? Why have you come? Did Jesus know why Judas said come?
Yes, he had already identified him. By name. But yet he says, friend, why have you come? It would have been better said, fiend, why have you come? Why did Jesus say that?
It was one last chance for Judas to repent. But Judas would have none of it. In fact, the scripture tells us that Satan had entered his heart.
Now, that is not said of any other person in the Bible. Yes, demons can inhabit a person, but Satan literally entered the heart of Judas Iscariot. And he betrays the Lord now. Even though he was given one last chance to repent.
So, how did things turn out for? Judas Iscariot. Matthew 27, verse 2. When they bound him and led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor, Judas' betrayer, seeing that he had been condemned, was remorseful. And brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.
They said, What is that to us? You see to it. And he threw down the pieces of silver. and departed and went and hanged himself. Tragic end to a tragic life.
By the way, the name Judas means the son of waste. Never name your sons Judas. But it's a Bible name. Yeah, not a good one.
Son of waste. He could have been forgiven. But it says he was remorseful.
Well, wasn't he turning from his sin? No, he was just sorry for the consequences of his sin. There's a difference between remorse and repentance. Remorse is being sorry. after sinning and having to face the consequences.
Repentance is being sorry enough to stop. Let's say you're driving down the road, freeway, and you're breaking the speed limit, and the CHP lights you up. You're sorry.
Sorry you broke the law. No, sorry you didn't pay more attention. No, when you're really remorseful, you'll be repentant. Judas only felt sorry for the consequences he had to face. He was an actor, as I said.
Listen to this. If you're a Christian, you cannot live continuously in sin. I did not say that. that you would not sin because we all sin. And the Bible says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
But you can't live in a pattern of sin. 1 John 3, 9 says, Whoever is born of God, which means born again, Will not continue in sin because God's seed remains in him. He cannot go on sinning because he's been born of God. This means if you're a real Christian And you sin. You'll feel remorse.
You'll feel guilt. Oh, guilt's a bad thing. No, guilt is not necessarily a bad thing. Guilt may be an indication your conscience is working.
Sort of like a smoke alarm.
So last night my smoke alarm went off at 12.30 in the morning. Was there a fire? No, there was no fire. It was a false alarm and there's a little voice saying, there's smoke in your room. Then it said, you're going to die.
I'm like, what? What is it? No, it didn't say that, but. It was very alarming. No pun intended.
And I jumped up and had to turn it off. It was a false alarm. Why don't they go off at 12.30 in the afternoon? It's always in the middle of the night. Is that way for you to, when there's a false alarm, always in the middle of the night?
So, but at least it kind of worked. It was just not working that well. But I guess it beats the alternative, which is a fire in your home. We're having no alarm at all.
So when you sin, And you feel guilt and the alarm goes off, so to speak, that's a good thing, not a bad thing. The Bible says: whom the Lord loves, he chastens. You want your conscience to work. Judas apparently didn't have a conscience. at all.
And he was a pretender. You know, some people do a good job. of fooling others. You say no one really knows who I am. I fooled everybody.
Okay. You can fool all of the people some of the time. You can fool some of the people all of the time. But you can't fool Jesus any of the time. You're fooling yourself.
Because one day all things will be known to God.
Well, they're known to him now, but they'll be open and known to everyone. And that's why you want to come clean and don't be the great pretender. Like Judas was, he even missed that last opportunity. to turn to Christ.
So we're going to have a prayer. And I'm going to extend an invitation for you to ask Christ to come into your life. If you need to make a genuine commitment to Christ, you can do it. Right now, let's all bow our heads and pray, Father. Thank you for your word to us, Lord.
We're so thankful we have access to you through the blood of Jesus who laid his life down for us. And I pray now, Lord, for any person who has joined us who is not yet a believer. If they've never asked you to come into their life and they want to, help them to take that step. And now if you want your sin forgiven, You want to know that when you die, you will go to heaven. You want to become a child of God.
You want Jesus to come into your life? I'm going to lead you in a prayer. And I'm going to ask that you would pray this prayer after me. In fact, I'm going to ask everyone to just. Pray it out loud.
As a way of affirming you that are praying it for the first time.
So let's all just. Pray this together. 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'm sorry for my sin. I repent of my sin. Yeah.
I ask Jesus to come into my life. Thank you for hearing my prayer. In your name I pray. Amen. Such an important prayer.
A life-saving prayer. The prayer that brings us into a relationship with God. which ultimately gets us to heaven. Pastor Greg Laurie with today's message on a new beginning called Jesus and the Pretender. And if you've just prayed with Pastor Greg and have made a decision for the Lord, we want to help you get started in living this new life of faith.
We'd like to send you Pastor Gregg's New Believer's Bible. It's written specifically for new Christians. Pastor Gregg uses clear, everyday language. It helps you build a strong foundation for your faith.
So ask for the New Believer's Bible when you call us at 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call any time, again at 1-800-821-3300. or write a new beginning box 4000. Riverside, California, 92514. or go online to harvest.org and click Know God.
Yeah. You know, Pastor Gregg, we hear from people all the time who tell us how these daily studies have impacted their lives.
So many have found the Lord and been encouraged through this teaching. That's right. And we hope our listeners might pray about making an investment so these studies can continue. Yeah, it's really true, Dave. You know, and even a little bit helps.
You know, people need to hear the gospel so badly. They need to hear the teaching of the word of God. It changes everything because it changes us. And I'm so passionate about it, and I'm called to do it, and I'm thankful for it. But I can't do it alone.
So I'm going to ask folks that are listening: if you think more people need to hear the gospel. If you believe more people need to hear the teaching of the Word of God, then Preferably consider investing in harvest ministries and maybe even become a harvest partner. Which means you're someone who stands with us every month in your faithful giving. And that opens up a lot of new opportunities for us. Thanks for that.
Yeah, that's right. And we really are thankful for your partnership. You can reach us any time day or night at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write a new beginning box 4000.
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So download that app right away, Harvest Plus, and you can enjoy being a part of our extended church family every Sunday.
Well, next time, as Pastor Gregg continues his series, Jesus and You, he takes us to the Lord's words about the importance of the Great Commission. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins.
