Encore : There's a Better World Coming!

Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here. You're listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, and my objective is to deliver, hopefully, compelling practical insights in faith, culture, and current events from a biblical perspective. To find out more about our ministry, just go to our website, harvest.org. So thanks for joining me for this podcast.

Well welcome back to Harvest at Home. I have a message that's titled, There's a Better World Coming. This is a little series we're doing on the end times. And so let's talk about our future. So grab your Bibles and turn to Revelation chapter 21. And while you're turning there, I'd like you to pray with me if you would please. Let's pray. Father, You've told us in the book of Revelation that there is a special blessing promised to the person who reads, hears, and keeps the words of this book. Well Lord, we want that blessing. And we ask You to bless our time as we read these words, help us to hear these words, and most of all, help us to keep them.

In Jesus' name we pray. Again, the title of the message, There's a Better World Coming. You know, it's always exciting to get a new version of something, isn't it? Like the new iPhone or the new Android phone.

People will wait in lines. They have the latest edition. Or maybe it's something else that's new. It's your favorite TV show, has a new season, or there's something new over on Netflix, or it's a new shirt, or a new whatever it is. New things are cool. And how about a new car? There is nothing better than the new car smell. I have a friend who got a new car and I was in it the other day and it just had that luxurious new car smell. So I left a burrito in it just to kind of, you know, bring them back to reality again. He'll figure it out in about a month.

No, seriously. But we like things new. In fact, advertisers have figured out that if they put the words new and improved on a product that it will make you want to buy it. Now the fact is the only thing new and improved may be the packaging, but still we're attracted to the idea of newness. Well guess what? God loves new things too.

And in His case, it's not false advertising. He's telling us what our future is and it's really going to be new and improved. Because yes, a better world is coming.

Let me pick up where I left off last time. We talked about the antichrist. You remember who inaugurates the great tribulation period.

We talked about the fact that COVID-19 is a stage setting, if you will, of the end time scenario known as the great tribulation period. The Bible says there will be an increase of plagues. The Bible also tells us that the state will be under the control and rule of the antichrist and the world will have the final conflict there in the battle of Armageddon. The Bible tells us in the last days there would be violence in our streets.

Now are we not seeing that right now in America? It's foreshadowing what is yet to come. It's going to get worse in the great tribulation period, but we have not started that period yet. That is inaugurated with the emergence of antichrist. But the Bible does tell us in 2 Timothy, in the last days, perilous times would come. The word perilous is an interesting word.

It means difficult. It is the same word that is used to describe demon possessed men in Matthew 6 who were fierce, vicious, violent, or savage. So effectively, Scripture is saying in the last days there will be violent, savage times. Noah was effectively a last days believer. His last days were before the flood, before the judgment of God came. And Jesus said, As it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be when the Son of Man returns. Well looking back at the days of Noah we read in Genesis chapter 6 verses 5 and 11, And God warned the people of Noah's time to turn from their sin. And God is warning the people of our time as well that judgment is ultimately going to come.

And the door of that ark shut. And one day the final chance will be given and then judgment will come. And that is the second coming. So next event on the prophetic calendar is the rapture of the church that comes from the root word harpazo when Christ will catch up all true believers to heaven. The rapture is when He comes as a thief in the night on the heels of the rapture. And really not until after the rapture we have the emergence of the coming world leader known as Antichrist, Christ the beast, the son of perdition.

All titles for Him in the Bible. And He comes off initially as a man of peace at the halfway point of the great tribulation period. After He has rebuilt the temple for the Jewish people He commits what Christ calls the abomination of desolation. He effectively desecrates the temple. And the final part of the tribulation is when He imposes His mark on people.

Establishes martial law. No one can buy or sell without the mark of the beast. And everything culminates in the battles of Armageddon. And then Christ comes back and establishes the millennium. The millennium.

It means one thousand. What is that going to be like? Well let's talk about that. Number one in the millennium, which is the one thousand year reign of Christ where Satan is chained up.

We know this. There will be world peace. World peace. No more war. No more terrorism. No more nuclear weapons. Isaiah 2.4 of this time says, Won't that be awesome. We won't need the military any longer.

Imagine that. Number two in the millennium, the thousand year reign of Christ, there will be joy and happiness and no more disabilities. Am I speaking to someone right now who has a disability and you are wheelchair bound and maybe you are wheelchair free.

Like my friend Catherine Wolfe says. She had a severe stroke and found herself confined to a wheelchair. But she says, I don't like the phrase wheelchair bound because I have never been more free in my life spiritually.

But whatever it is if you have a disability I am sure you would love to not have it any longer. And in the millennium when Christ rules we know that those disabilities are gone. Isaiah 35.5 says, When He comes He will open the eyes of the blind.

Unstop the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer and those who cannot speak will shout and sing. How glorious that day will be. Also in this millennial reign of Christ people will live super long lives. Isaiah 65.20 says, No longer will babies die when they are only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at 100.

I like the sound of that. I read about a woman whose name was Emma Marino. And at that moment she was the longest living woman on earth. She made it to 117 years. So she credited her longevity to the following. Every day she ate two eggs.

But not cooked eggs. She ate two raw eggs and also cookies. And she was quoted to say, Well I don't eat much because I don't have any teeth. Well I guess that is her secret. But then there is another woman only 116 years old who credited her longevity to eating bacon daily.

I like this girl. She had a steady diet of bacon, eggs, and grits for breakfast. There was a much younger man who made it to 110 years old. Never sick a day in his life. And he said the key was garlic, honey, cinnamon, and olive oil. And his dad gave him a stern warning as a young man he said, Never eat hot dogs.

And he never did. But then I read about another dude that lived really a long life as well. And he said the secret to his longevity was hot dogs.

Here is what I find interesting. Raw eggs, cookies, bacon, no tofu, and no kale in any of these diets. So I am coming up with a new diet that will help me live longer. Bacon, eggs, cheese. I don't know about raw eggs. I will take them cooked. Cookies are good. Hot dogs for sure. But seriously though the Lord will extend the human life.

Number four. In the millennial reign of Christ the animal kingdom will be subdued. This is good news to me because I am an animal lover. I have pretty much had every animal you can have. I have had many dogs. I have had all kinds of birds. I have had parakeets and finches and cockatiels and even parrots. And then I have gone through all the reptiles. I have had all kinds of snakes large and small and lizards and turtles and even some amphibians. And then I have had lots of tropical fish. And then I have had all kinds of little creatures like guinea pigs and hamsters and mice and rats. And I have to add that one of the best pets of all is a rat. They can be very nice. I don't mean the kind you find out on the streets. Hopefully one you get from a pet shop that you can tame. I have had all of these little animals.

I have never had a cat by the way. I don't know that I ever will. But here is what the Bible says about the millennial reign of Christ. It says the wolf and the lamb will be together and a little child will lead them.

Isaiah 11 6-9. The wolf will romp with the lamb. The leopard will sleep with the kid. The calf and the lion will eat from the same trough and a little child will tend them. How nice that would be. So your little kid says, Hey mom I am going to go out and take the lion for a walk. I may even ride the lion. And mom will say, Ok have a good time.

No worries. This is the millennial reign of Christ. Also there is going to be number five universal justice and righteousness when Christ is reigning. Psalm 72 2 says, God will judge His people in righteousness and the afflicted ones with justice.

He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy. No more corrupt lawyers. Corrupt judges.

Corrupt police officers. No more injustice. No more frivolous lawsuits. No more theft or looting. Or even spam calls. No spam calls in the millennial reign of Christ. No acts of racism of any kind. There will be justice for everyone.

Number six. The curse that came upon the world because of sin will be lifted. We are told in Romans 8 and 19 all creation is waiting eagerly for the future day when God will reveal who His children really are. Everything on earth has been subjected to the curse of God. But all creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. So people won't age. People won't have the effects of sickness in their life.

And seven. Holiness will prevail. Today the opposite of holiness prevails. Evil is celebrated.

Goodness is made fun of. But there is going to be holiness in these days. Isaiah 35 says the main road going through the once deserted land will be a highway of holiness. And evil hearted people will never travel on it. You know I was in North Carolina not too long ago and they have a highway there. A freeway called the Billy Graham Parkway. That is a cool thing to drive on a parkway dedicated to North Carolina's favorite son and the greatest evangelist I think in human history. Billy Graham. So this is even better than the Billy Graham Parkway.

This is the highway of holiness. And at the end of the millennium heaven and earth effectively become one. Let's look at another passage also in Revelation. Revelation 21.

I would like to read verses one to six with you. It says, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle, or the dwelling place of God, is with man, and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be their God.

Wow. Have you ever heard the expression, oh it was just like heaven on earth. Maybe it was a beautiful sunset you saw in Hawaii. Maybe it was being out in nature in the forest somewhere looking at the stars at night.

Maybe it was the best restaurant you ever went to and you had the best meal you have ever eaten and you said, oh how can I describe it. It was like heaven on earth. Well one day it is going to be literally heaven on earth. Heaven and earth are going to merge together. Sometimes people say, you know as a Christian I will die and go to heaven and live there with Jesus forever.

Well that is actually not technically accurate. Yes if you are a Christian when you die you will go to heaven. But you won't stay there forever because the Scripture teaches that heaven is going to come down to earth one day. In fact over in Ephesians 1 it says, God's plan is to bring all things in heaven and earth together under one head even Christ.

My friend Randy Alcorn has written a lot of great books. But I think the greatest of all of his books is simply titled, Heaven. And in it he makes a statement and I quote, We won't go to heaven and leave earth behind. Rather God will bring heaven and earth together into the same dimension with no wall of separation, no armed angels to guard heaven's perfection from sinful mankind.

End quote. Jesus will make earth into heaven and heaven into earth. Even as that wall of separation that separated us from God called sin will be broken down so also will that wall that divides heaven and earth be broken down. It is a new world that is coming. It is a better world that is coming. But it is not a sequel.

It is a remake. Here is another detail given to us in the Bible. When God brings the new earth about there will be no more ocean. Surfers. What can I say? They are going, Whoa dude.

I am not stoked about that at all. Actually no. I don't know any surfer that talks that way by the way. But when people do imitations of Californians it is always like, Whoa dude. Cowabunga you know.

Well no one talks that way. But if it makes you happy go ahead and mock us here in California. We can take it. But seriously surfer dudes there won't be any ocean. I know that is depressing but if God takes something away He will only give you something more amazing in its place.

And so just think about how great this is all going to be. Now at this moment two-thirds of the earth's surface is covered with water. The remaining one-third has large areas that are rendered worthless because of mountains and deserts.

There is only a small portion of the earth's surface that is inhabitable. But when God establishes His kingdom all of those barriers that separate us now will be gone. The barriers that separate nations will be gone. The barriers that separate areas where people live will be gone.

There will be no divisions at all. And I might add there will be no racial divisions either. When we get to heaven the Bible tells us in Revelation 7 there is a great multitude which no man can number from every nation. From all the tribes and the languages standing before the throne. People clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And so everyone is going to be there from every nation, from every race.

This is going to be a glorious day. And we will be reunited with loved ones who have preceded us to heaven. Do you have someone that you love that is in heaven right now? Maybe a mom or a dad. Maybe a grandparent. It could be a spouse.

It could even be a child. And you miss them so deeply. Just know this. They are not just a part of your past. They will also be a part of your future.

And you will be able to personally meet the great heroes of the Bible like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah. They are all there. Eve, Sarah, Ruth, and Mary. David, Noah, Jonah, Peter, James, and John. And then more contemporary Christian heroes like William Wilberforce, Abraham Lincoln, C.H. Spurgeon, D.O. Moody, C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther King. The list just goes on and on. You will be able to hang out with these people.

Spend time with them. And of course you will be with the Lord Himself. And that is the most important thing of the afterlife is being with Jesus in this closeness to Him. You will have open access to the throne of God. Revelation 21, 3. We read these words. I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle or dwelling place of God is with men and He will dwell with them and they will be His people. And God will be with them and He will be their God. Imagine this for a moment. You can approach Him at any time. Open access to the very presence of God.

No appointment needed. Years ago we booked the entire park of Disneyland for a Christian event. It was really a lot of fun I have to say. On every stage in the park we had a Christian band with an evangelist. I actually stood over on Tom Sawyer's Island and preached the gospel. It was kind of a surreal moment standing there looking at the Matterhorn in the distance and with like 15,000 people on the other side watching and listening.

I told them how to come to Christ and many did. And we did all of our counseling in the Golden Horseshoe Theater not far from Tom Sawyer's Island. But before we opened this event up for the public they had all the public leave and they were getting the park cleaned up for our special event. And I was able to get in early and have the whole place to myself. This is like a kid's dream come true. Just walking around in Disneyland not fighting crowds looking at everything. I could get on this ride.

I could try this other thing. It was so amazing. But imagine you are in heaven with open access to God. No barriers.

Nothing restricting you. It is the ultimate E ticket. If you know what that means it means you are old. Because kids a long time ago before you bought season passes for Disneyland we bought little ticket books. And in the ticket books there was a ticket called the E ticket and that got you on the really fast rides.

And that day like the Matterhorn and others. And so it is the ultimate E ticket ride. Ultimate access to God Himself. One more passage I want to read. Revelation 21 4. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There will be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. He that sat on the throne said, Behold I make all things new. So write these words down.

He said, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. And I will give the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

I love what it says in verse 5. God speaking, Behold I make all things new. Effectively it is out with the old in with the new. No more terminal diseases. No more hospitals.

No more wheelchairs. No more funerals. No more suffering. No more separations. No more accidents.

No more courts or prisons. No more divorces or breakdowns or breakups. No more suicide. No more rape. No more missing children. No more drug problems. No more heart attacks or strokes or Alzheimer's or cancer.

No more famines or disaster. God is making all things new. And the way he states this is as though it were in the past tense. Notice it says in verse 6, And he said to me, It is done.

Wait. What do you mean it is done? I am reading a book that is telling me about the future. Remember revelation is like being put into a spiritual time machine and being catapulted into the future if you are standing in the sandals of John the Apostle on the island of Patmos. He was seeing his future, which in some cases is our present, and in other cases is still our future.

He is taking it all in. But God speaks of it as though it is already done. He says it is done. It is finished. There is a finality there.

Literally they have become done. That text is in a perfect indicative tense to say this is a secure thing. God is saying you can take this to the bank. Again as I reminded you before, God lives in the eternal realm.

So He can see the past with accuracy and He can see the future with the same accuracy. Here is kind of a mind blowing little verse. Ecclesiastes 3.15. It says, Whatever has happened in the past is present now and whatever is going to happen in the future has already happened in the past.

You are like, What? Well that is God's perspective. It is all the same to Him. So when He says something is going to happen you can know it is going to happen. You say, Well Greg this is all great.

Ok. Heaven and earth are going to become one. We will get to hang out with all kinds of dangerous creatures and we will have peace.

Here is how it should affect you. You should be thinking about the afterlife. The only way to live the best life in this life is to always be aware of the nearness of the afterlife. You see. As C.S. Lewis once put it. Loose paraphrase.

Those who think most of the next world do the most in this one. So I want you to think heaven. You say, Well Greg I have never been to heaven. Well you have just had a glimpse of heaven from Scripture.

Remember revelation means unveiling. The Lord has shown you what is in your future. So think about heaven. Think about the afterlife.

Here is what Colossians 3 says. You have been raised with Christ. So set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above not on earthly things. Set your minds, that phrase means to actively seek or have this inner disposition or as one translation puts it and I like this translation, think heaven. What do you spend most of your time thinking about? Listen. You are the air controller of your mind.

You decide what plane lands where and when. You decide what thoughts come in and what thoughts stay out. And the problem is if you give the devil an inch he is going to take a mile. So guard your minds and think about heavenly things. Think about spiritual things. Think heaven. Yes our feet must be on earth but our minds must be in heaven. I mean do we really believe this? We sit here and we listen to a message like this and I ask you as I am closing, do you really believe the Bible is true? Do you really believe that there is an afterlife? Do you really believe there is a heaven waiting for those that believe in Jesus and a hell waiting there for those that reject Him?

Do you really believe that these things are accurate? If so let me ask you a question. When is the last time you told someone about Jesus? I hope it is recent because people need to hear this message that we are sharing. Let me conclude with this thought.

Jesus says, Behold I make all things new. Are you feeling worn out, beat up, and even old? You know I remember at the age of 17, this is 20 years ago. Okay 50 years ago.

Anyway when I was 17 I remember I felt like I was 70. You say, Greg why? Well because of my upbringing. My mother was a raging alcoholic. She had been married and divorced seven times. I had to grow up fast. I had to kind of take care of her. It was like I was more the parent in the relationship than she was.

In trying to take care of her I got into my own bad choices in life and drinking and drugs. By the time I hit 17 I felt like I was so old and I was so empty and I was so sad and I was burdened with sin. And I had a big hole in my heart. And then on my high school campus I heard about Jesus Christ. I heard that there was a God in heaven who loved me. Now look I always believed in Jesus. I had seen all of his movies.

I was a big fan. But I never thought of Jesus as someone that could be known in this life. I just thought of him as a historical figure who was amazing.

It's really too bad how he died. I mean I love the story of Jesus. I love movies about Jesus. But I always thought someone should rewrite the ending and get rid of that whole crucifixion part and just let them do miracles and give great teachings and ascend to heaven. Well actually after I became a believer I realized that the crucifixion part was the whole point of the story. He was born to die that we might live. Jesus left heaven and came to the earth on a rescue operation to be born in a manger in Bethlehem than to live a perfect life and ultimately to die a perfect death on a cross for our sins because we are all separated from God. I remember when I heard that as a kid in high school at 17. I thought well I wish I could do this but I don't think it will work for me. I am not the religious type I thought.

Guess what? God is not looking for the religious type. God is looking for the sinner type.

And you qualify and I qualify. We all do. And I heard that promise that God loved me and that Christ would come and live inside of me. That he would forgive me of all of my sin. And I took a little step of faith that day and I prayed a little prayer right there on my high school campus asking Christ to come into my life. And I will be honest with you. After I prayed that prayer I felt absolutely nothing.

But I want to tell you something. That is the day Jesus came into my life and he satisfied the thirst in my soul that I tried to satisfy with other things. And he will do the same thing for you. Listen to these words of the Lord in Revelation 21. I am the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. And I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to Him who thirsts.

Are you thirsty right now spiritually? Jesus encountered a woman at a well. She had been married and divorced five times.

My mom seven. This lady five. And she was living with some dude at the moment. And so she probably thought men would fill the void in her life. And as she sat by a well Jesus said this. If you drink of this water you will thirst again.

But if you drink of the water that I give you will never thirst again. I think he was using that well as a metaphor for her life. She had tried to satisfy her inner thirst with relationships.

Have you done the same? Some try to do it with possessions. Others try to do it with fame.

They want to be insta-famous. Others try to do it with drugs or alcohol. Others try to satisfy that thirst with even religion. Try to be a pious person.

None of those things will work. You need Jesus. Jesus is the answer.

You say well what is the question? The question is what is going to happen to you in the afterlife? And I will tell you right now if you have Christ living inside of you you don't have to be afraid. A few moments ago I mentioned there is the hope of heaven for the believer and there is also the reality of hell. Yes there is a hell. But it wasn't created for people.

According to Jesus it was created for the devil and his angels. If you reject God's offer of forgiveness and you end up in the place called hell you will have no one to blame in the final day but yourself because the gates of hell are locked from the inside. You will have sent yourself there by your rejection of the offer of God. Would you like to be forgiven of your sin? Would you like to know that you will go to heaven when you die? Would you like to satisfy your inner spiritual thirst? Would you like to have your guilt taken away?

If the answer to those questions is yes here is what you need to know. Jesus died on the cross for you. He rose again from the dead three days later and he stands now at the door of your life and he knocks and he says if you hear his voice and open the door he will come in.

You can ask Christ to come into your life and this can be the greatest day of your life because he is only a prayer away. If you want Jesus to come into your life if you want him to forgive you of your sin if you want to know that you will go to heaven when you die I want you to pray a prayer with me right here right now. You just pray this prayer after me and this is a prayer of asking Jesus to come into your life. Let's pray. Let's 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 from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and my Lord as my God and my friend. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.