What Heaven Knows About Earth | Sunday Message

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. Revelation 6. Revelation 7. The title of my message is, What Heaven Knows About Earth.

We come to a new section in our series on the book of Revelation. With the sake of an illustration, let me compare it to a film. Remember when we used to go to theaters, right, and we would take our seats. Now, I don't know about how you guys go to a movie, but for Kathy and I, it always involves popcorn and milk duds. I'm not sure how that started, those two things, but that's what we get, popcorn and milk duds. Now sometimes I'll say, Kathy, come on, the movie's starting, and there's a long line of the concessions, Dan.

This is all ancient history now, isn't it? And she'll say, but I have to get the popcorn, and I'll say, but Kathy, you don't want to miss the beginning of the film. You find out who the main characters are. The plot lines are being established, and she always shows up about four minutes late, and then she's saying, who's that?

Why do they do that? That's why you have to be there in the beginning of the movie. So if the book of Revelation were a film, we would now know who the main characters are, both good and bad. The hero appears in chapter one, and of course it's Jesus Christ. The good guys are in chapters two to three. That's the church.

That's us. Now the villain and his bad guys come barreling in in chapter six as the four ominous horsemen of the apocalypse, and now the real action of the book is beginning to build. The music is swelling, and we're sinking deeper into our seats. And I don't know about you coming back to theaters, but after I'd walked out of a theater, it was embarrassing to see how much popcorn I dropped on my seat and on the floor.

I felt bad for the people cleaning it up. Now we see conflict. In fact, it looks at this moment in the book of Revelation as though the bad guys are winning, because we see wickedness taking hold as Satan rides roughshod over planet Earth. The good guys are getting pummeled by the Antichrist.

But spoiler alert. Jesus Christ returns in the end, and we win in the end, just in case you didn't know. Revelation 17 are really the heart of the book. These chapters contain 21 judgments that will be unleashed on the world during the seven-year tribulation period. We have three distinct series of judgments that will befall planet Earth during this time known as the tribulation. Basically it's going to be seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bulls.

Let me say that again. Seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bulls. But let me say at the outset, God takes no pleasure in this. You know, sometimes people want to portray God as angry, you know, with a lightning bolt in His hand, so excited about bringing judgment on planet Earth.

Nothing can be further from the truth, because the Lord says in Scripture, I take no delight in the death of the wicked. You know, sometimes people will say something along the lines of, well I believe in the God of the New Testament. Not the God of the Old Testament, because the God of the Old Testament is wrathful and angry, but the God of the New Testament is loving and gracious. Clearly you have not read the Bible. Because yes, we see a God of holiness. We see a God of righteousness, but a God of love, and a God of mercy in both the Old and the New Testament.

Let's go back to the Old Testament as an example. We remember that the plagues came upon Egypt and upon Pharaoh. The Lord didn't want to do that. Pharaoh was warned over and over by Moses to let God's people go, and he refused, and his heart got harder. But he had opportunity after opportunity to repent, and it was really on him.

He had no one ultimately to blame but himself. Go to the story of Noah in the book of Genesis, where God sent the judgment through the flood. There was plenty of time for people to turn to God and to repent before one drop of rain fell. Again, the Lord took no pleasure in that. Another classic example of God being merciful in the Old Testament is the story of Nineveh. Remember this was a city renowned for his wickedness, run by the Assyrians that were very cruel in the way that they treated their enemies. Just unbelievable atrocities. But the Lord raised up a prophet named Jonah, who obviously didn't want to go at first, but he eventually got there, and he gave them the message, 40 days in Nineveh will be overthrown. But notice there was a warning first.

And what happens? The people repent, and God does not send judgment. There are positive aspects of the judgment of God, believe it or not. Number one, God's judgment frightens us. That's not a bad thing.

It's supposed to. God's judgment scares the hell out of us. And that's good to have the hell scared out of you. It will make you think twice before you do that thing. And as you watch God's judgment or the repercussions come into a person's life when they've done the wrong thing, it's a warning to you to not also do the wrong thing. Number two, God's judgment sobers us. It forces us to reassess the way we've been living. We're living our lives, and sometimes it causes us to change our priorities.

It's C.S. Lewis who said, Pain is God's megaphone to reach a deaf world. The psalmist said, Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I have kept your word. So God can use these things to get our attention. Another thing about the judgment of God, it humbles us. It strips away our self-righteousness and reminds us of how sinful we are, reminding us that we're not in control of our own lives. And it reminds us that we desperately need God in our life.

There are horrible sinful things that are done and we think that's not right. But we remind ourselves one day there's a final court of justice. That's what we're seeing unfold here in the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 6 is like a flyover of the whole book starting with what we call the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

We talked about this last time. Remember that the first horse is white and the rider is none other than Antichrist. Not Jesus Christ, but Antichrist who inaugurates the tribulation period coming on a white horse that sort of looks like he's a good guy. And in the beginning of the tribulation period he comes with overtures of peace and solutions to economic problems of the world and much more. But then he shows his true colors bringing us to the next horse, the red horse of war because Antichrist was never a peacemaker.

He always was a troublemaker. And he uses the offer of peace as a ruse to deceive people. And it appears as we read through the book of Revelation that God allows men to unleash his significant military might and nuclear weaponry.

Closing time has come for our planet as we know it. And Antichrist begins to enforce his agenda on planet earth and his so-called benevolence gives way to bloodthirsty vengeance on all who disagree with him. Following that is the black horse of famine and finally the pale horse that brings pestilence, famine, disease, and all the things that inevitably follow war. But now we come to a group of courageous believers who are put to death. People that would not take the mark of the beast.

People that would not pledge their allegiance to the Antichrist. In fact maybe even people that you have shared the gospel with that will miss the rapture but come to faith later. We read about them in Revelation 6 starting So we'll stop there. During the tribulation period.

Again these are people who miss the rapture. These are people who refuse to take the mark of the beast. Why were they put to death?

Two reasons are given. Look at Revelation 6, 9. They were slain for the word of God and for the testimony they held. Number one they stood for the word of God. Number two they had a powerful testimony.

Let me ask you a question. Do you stand for the word of God? Do you speak up for what is true? Maybe people are saying things in a conversation that you know contradict what the Bible says. Do you have the courage to say well let me just offer my opinion and the Bible says. It's funny man you bring a Bible out and people freak out don't they? Just the very presence of a Bible alarms some people but you may quote it because you have one nearby or you may have memorized a verse and you share what the Bible says and then also they were put to death because of their testimony. Listen every Christian has a testimony.

Now the question is is it a good one or is it a poor one? A testimony is your story of how you came to faith in Jesus Christ. We read later in the book of Revelation people that overcame the devil and we'll get to this in a future message that I'm calling How to Overcome the Devil. But we read that they overcame the devil by the blood of the lamb by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives until the death. And so they used the blood of the lamb and their testimony so your testimony your story of how you came to believe in Jesus is a powerful bridge to start a conversation about your faith. You might even be surprised to know that when I'm sharing my faith with people I don't start with a sermon I don't cruise around with a little pulpit like this on wheels you know that I have in the market and I'll stop and preach a sermon. Now I usually start with my own story of how I came to believe in Jesus as a young kid at the age of 17 and what really got through to me. So they have their testimony and they're persecuted and if you stand for the word of God and if you're bold with your story of what Christ has done for you you will face a degree of persecution. In fact we're told in 2 Timothy 3 12 all who desire to live godly lives will suffer persecution. Now we come to the heart of this message. Remember we're talking about what do people in heaven know about what's going on here on earth.

Follow up question. Do they even care. Are people in heaven watching us right now. Are they looking down from glory and observing what we're facing and what we're going through.

It seems there are two trains of thought on this subject. Some would suggest that when you're in heaven the last thing you would care about is what is happening on earth and to the point if you knew of something tragic or sad that it happened on earth it would ruin heaven for you. The other train of thought is people in heaven are watching our every move. They sometimes even intervene in our lives.

Sometimes they speak to us and they guide us. Okay you might be surprised to hear me say both of these views are incorrect and both of these views are not biblical. So let me give you a biblical view of what people in heaven know about earth. Now someone might be thinking well why even talk about this.

Who even cares. Well you care if you have a loved one in heaven. Now as you probably know our son Christopher went to be with the Lord 13 years ago.

He was only 33 years old. It was a life altering event. I had a very close relationship with Christopher as I do with my son Jonathan. We talked every single day.

And to suddenly have communication cut off and no longer be able to hear from them or talk to them or know what they're doing it's like you've been cut off. And so there were two things I wanted to know about in the aftermath of my son's death. Number one I wanted to know more about heaven. So I wouldn't say I'm an expert on heaven but I would say I'm a student of heaven.

And I would add this. I also wanted to know more about how I can bring hope when tragedy strikes. Because when you lose a loved one or when you find out that you're terminally ill or something huge happens to you you wonder how am I going to survive it. I wanted to know how I can bring hope to people like this because God brought hope to me in my hour of need.

Because here's the bottom line. As you get older you're going to know more people that have gone on to heaven. You're going to know more people who die.

Some of you are thinking you'll think so that depressing thought preacher. Well it's just reality. Someone's got to tell you so I guess it's going to be me. Listen to this. Hate to break the news to you. Life is hard.

It just is. But God is good. And God's going to give you what you need in life.

So don't be afraid. He won't necessarily give you what you need before you need it. He'll never give it to you after you need it.

He'll always give it to you when you need it. The Bible says He's a present help in time of trouble. So before we dig into this passage here in Revelation 6 let's think of some other passages that tell us a little bit about what heaven knows about earth. The first one that comes to mind is found in Luke 16.

And here's the point I want to make. People in eternity are aware of the fact that their loved ones are not saved. People in eternity are aware of the fact that their loved ones are not saved.

Going back to Luke 16. It's a behind the scenes look at the afterlife. Some think it's a parable. But a parable is an illustration. This is a real story because names are attached.

And it's a story of two men. One was rich. One was poor. One had no interest in God.

One believed in God. They both died. The rich man had a big funeral that would have been on all the television stations.

Everyone would have known about it. The poor man nobody even cared about him. By the way his name was Lazarus. And Lazarus lived from the food that fell from the rich man's table. So they both died and they entered into eternity. Lazarus. Not the same Lazarus that Christ raised from the dead by the way.

But Lazarus in this story is immediately escorted by the angels into heaven. Into what is called Abraham's bosom. The rich man meanwhile is sent down to Hades or a place of torment.

And he's literally in flames. He realizes how horrible this is. And we read in 1628 him saying I have five brothers and I want to warn them about this place of torment so they won't have to come here after they die. So this indicates a knowledge in heaven in the afterlife about what is happening on earth. And I bring this up because sometimes people say things like well you'll be oblivious of what is happening on earth and you won't remember anything about what happened on earth.

What are you talking about. This guy is aware of the fact that he has brothers that are alive on earth still and he doesn't want them to end up in this horrible place of judgment that he finds himself in. So when you get to heaven you don't know less you know more.

Right. Because the Bible says that in that day we will know as we are known. 1 Corinthians 13 12. We will know as we are known. By the way that word means to come to know. This indicates that there is still a process of learning in heaven and in the new earth. It's not like you die and go to heaven and all of a sudden you know everything. You know as much as God knows.

No that's not true. Only God is omniscient all knowing. I will keep learning and growing in heaven. In fact Ephesians 2 6 says God has raised us up with Christ and seated us in the heavenly realm so in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace. And that word show means to reveal. So this phrase coming ages indicates there is a progressive ongoing revelation in which we learn in heaven more and more about the grace of God.

Isn't that going to be exciting. Here is another point. Number two. When people believe in Jesus on earth it's public knowledge in heaven. When people believe in Jesus on earth it's public knowledge in heaven. In Luke 15 Jesus told three stories of people who lost something. There was a woman who lost a coin. There was a father who lost a son. And there was a shepherd who lost a sheep. And in the case of the shepherd he went searching until he found that stray sheep and brought it back wrapped around his neck rejoicing. And then this point is brought there in Luke 15 Jesus says in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people.

So know this. When you're engaged in evangelism this is pleasing the heart of God. And when a person believes in Jesus on earth there is joy in heaven. But notice it says that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God. Sometimes we'll say when a non-believer comes to Christ the angels rejoice.

Well that's kind of true. But it's not exactly what it says. It says there is joy in the presence of God. Could that verse actually be suggesting that the great joy is not among the angels alone but it's among us. In other words is it possible that in heaven I would be aware that my life or testimony or witness had some impact on someone who would just believe. In other words I'm in heaven and I know someone that I shared the gospel with just came to faith.

Maybe it's my son or my granddaughter or maybe a relative even beyond that or someone else. But there's a direct connection between heaven and earth. We think heaven is so far away.

Think of it more as another dimension that you enter into when you go into the afterlife. So coming back to Revelation chapter 6 verse 10 and 11 we have the martyrs crying out, bringing me to my next point. People in heaven may know more about the time and place of events on earth than we realize.

Again people in heaven may know more about the time and place of events on earth than we realize. Who are these people? They're mere mortals. They're people like you and me. They've been put to death for their faith. But they're aware of things. For starters they're aware that they were killed for following Christ and they know that was an injustice. So they're the same people in heaven that they were on earth.

There's a direct continuity. The martyrs are fully conscious, rational, and aware of each other. Aware of God and aware of what is happening on earth. Also note they're aware of the passing of time on earth. They see in verse 10, How long O Lord, holy and true until you judge and avenge our blood. In verse 11, it's said to them that they should rest a little while longer. I bring this up because sometimes people say in heaven we're not aware of the passing of time.

Would you say that? These folks who were put to death for their faith are fully aware of the passing of time. Also I would add there's a direct connection between these believers in heaven and those that are still on the earth. They refer to their fellows, servants, and their brothers. Again this is connected to these people in particular but if it's true of them could it not be true of us?

So my point is simply this. Heaven knows more about earth than you realize. Now we come to another part of chapter 6.

The sixth seal is open. And God's judgment comes to planet earth in full force. And there are cataclysmic events that are happening that are so big that people are freaking out.

Look at Revelation 6 verse 12. And I look and He opened the sixth seal and behold there was a great earthquake. And the sun became a sackcloth of hair and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth as the fig tree drops its late figs when it's shaken by a mighty wind. And then the sky receded as a scroll when it rolled up and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave, every free man hid themselves in the caves and the rocks of the mountains.

Notice that everyone is affected. The famous and the unknown. The powerful and the weak.

The rich and the poor. Verse 16 of Revelation 6. And they said to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. Verse 17. For the great day of His wrath has come and who is able to stand? These nonbelievers want to hide from God. They say to the mountains and rocks, fall on us. You know it's said there's no atheists and foxholes.

I don't think that's completely true. There are people that on their very deathbeds will reject God. Of course there are some that will believe and thank God for His mercy that is extended. What if I am talking to somebody right now who is on their deathbed? And you have done some horrible things with your life. And you have made some horrible decisions. And you have said things to God that you wish you could take back and you think it's too late for me.

It's never too late for you. No matter what sin you have committed if you will call out to Jesus Christ He will forgive you. The Bible tells the story of what we call the thief on the cross. He actually was guilty of a far more serious crime than theft. He was hanging next to Jesus.

He probably was a murderer. And he turns to Christ and says, Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus says, Truly, truly I say to you today you will be with me in paradise. I say no matter what you have done God will forgive you of your sin.

And you can have a second chance. And if you want to know more about that I will tell you how in just a few moments. But these people are not turning to God. They are pretty much dying as they have lived. In effect they are calling out to mother nature. They are not saying God hide us or God forgive us.

And even more God save us. They are saying rocks and mountains hide us from this judgment that is to come. Have you ever tried to hide from God?

Have you ever tried to run from God? Remember when my grandkids were small we would play hide and seek. And they hadn't learned the art of deception yet. And they would go and hide like behind the curtains. And I would see their feet.

And they would be laughing. And I would act like I didn't know where they were. Where are you Allie? Where are you Lucy? Christopher? And I would find them.

And then I would say let's do it again. Go hide. And they would hide in the same place. That is us hiding from God. Do you really think you can hide from Him? Do you really think you can escape from Him? Should you even want to escape from Him?

The answer is no. The psalmist says in Psalm 139, I can never escape from your spirit. I can never get away from your presence. If I go up to heaven you are there. I can have the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night. But even in darkness I cannot hide from you. You can't hide from God. Now this scene closes with the asking of the rhetorical question in verse 17. Who is able to stand? And the answer is no one.

Yes. Again I want to emphasize. God will give chance after chance for people to believe even in the tribulation period. But if people end up being judged in this final day it's on them. It's not on God. He takes no pleasure in this.

He doesn't want to do it. But because He is just He will. Now we come to Revelation chapter seven. Look at verse one. After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth or on the sea or any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east having the seal of the living God.

And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea saying do not harm the earth and the sea or the trees till we have sealed the servants of God on their foreheads. Who are these servants of God that will be sealed on their foreheads? We've already been introduced to them. We call them the 144,000. Question, who are the 144,000? Simple answer, they're not Jehovah's Witnesses. I bring this up because the Watchtower Society says that there are 144,000 Jehovah's Witnesses. They're the fulfillment of this prophecy.

Well that's ridiculous because this hasn't happened yet. This is a future event that will happen in the tribulation period which has not begun yet. So who pray tell are the 144,000? Well we know they aren't Jews because they come from the 12 tribes of Israel. And in verses four to eight you have the specific tribes that they will actually come from including the tribes of Judah, Asher, and Zebulun. These Jews have embraced Jesus as their Messiah. Some might call them Messianic Jews, call them what you like. These are Jewish people that have embraced the Jewish Messiah and they believe in Him. And now God has called them to a special purpose. They're sort of like supercharged, superpowered missionaries combing the planet with the everlasting gospel. It's said of them that they have their own song, which is kind of cool. They have their own song.

It's unique to them. It's also said of them that they're spiritually pure. A little later in Revelation 14 four it is said of the 144,000, they follow the Lamb, that's Jesus. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

It also is said to us here that no lie is found in their lives and they're blameless. They're sort of like spiritual superheroes. Nothing can stop them. They're literally indestructible and this really ticks off the Antichrist because he wants to stop them but he cannot. There's a special mark on them that distinguishes them and the Antichrist cannot stop them. Did you know God has put a mark on you? Now when we think of a mark we think of it in a negative way like the mark of the beast but there's a good mark.

Think of it this way. It's like an ID tag, right? You put your ID tag on your luggage. When I go to the airport and I wait for my luggage it's like everybody has black luggage, right? A lot of us have luggage probably from the same company and so it comes down the little belt there and I've had people walk off with my bag and a couple of times I've walked off with someone else's bag so check the ID tag to figure out who the luggage belongs to.

You have an ID tag. It says something along the lines of property of the Lord Jesus Christ. He placed that mark on you when you believe. Ephesians 1 says after you heard the message of truth that is the gospel you believed in you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise given as a pledge or a down payment of our inheritance.

So God has put his mark on you. You belong to the Lord. You're the Lord's property. I heard the story of an older man who had walked with the Lord for years and one day he was getting tempted to sin and he prayed, Lord, your property is in danger again. So it's a great thing to know that God's ID tag is on you that you're under the protection of God but isn't this a stark contrast because we have those that have the mark of the beast and those that have the mark of the Lord. Listen if you have the mark of the Lord no one can stop you.

Listen to this. I am indestructible until God is done with me. There's an interesting passage at the end of the gospel of Mark chapter 16 where it says of the followers of Jesus they will take up deadly serpents and they will not be harmed and they can drink deadly poison and it won't kill them. Now we've heard about these churches that have services where they hand rattlesnakes around.

That's ridiculous. That's not trusting the Lord. That's testing the Lord. And I just read about some preacher that was bit by the rattlesnake and died. It doesn't mean we should be foolish and take unnecessary risks.

What it does mean is you're not gonna go before your time. Case in point Paul the apostle was shipwrecked on an island and he was warming himself over the fire and we read a venomous snake bit him and we just read he shook it off under the fire. Everyone thought he was gonna die. He just got bit by a venomous snake.

He didn't die because God wasn't done with him. By the way I've been bitten by many snakes and that's because I used to have snakes as a kid. I would go out and catch them in the wild and buy them in pet stores and so many times I was bit bit bit bit by snakes which is not a pleasurable experience by the way. But I was never bit by a venomous snake. But here's the point. You're gonna go as long as God wants you to go. So don't worry about it. Don't think oh what if this is my last day. Well if it is it is. And if it isn't it isn't. But here's what you need to know.

You'll go as long as God wants you to go and when your time has come you'll be escorted by the angels into the presence of God. So the 144,000 are protected by God because they have his mark. Those that follow the anti-Christ have his mark as well.

So let me ask you this. If you were alive at this time whose mark would be on your life? Anti-Christ or Jesus Christ?

Let me bring it into the present moment. Whose mark are you carrying right now? The mark of Christ or the mark of anti-Christ? The mark of anti-Christ.

Now some of you will push back and say, well Greg even you said anti-Christ has not appeared yet. So clearly I'm not carrying the mark of anti-Christ. Well in a broad sense you are either for Christ or you're for anti-Christ because anti-Christ is not just referring to a man that is coming. Also known as the beast and the son of perdition and other phrases that are used.

It also speaks of a mentality. For instance if you deny that Jesus is the son of God you are anti-Christ. Because 1 John 2 22 says who is a liar? It's a man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is anti-Christ who denies the father and the son.

Listen to this. When someone professes faith in Jesus and walks away they're anti-Christ. 1 John 2 18 says dear children this is the last hour. And as you've heard the anti-Christ is coming but even now many anti-Christ have come.

This is how we know it's the last hour. They went out from us but they did not really belong to us for if they belonged to us they would have remained with us but their going out showed that none of them belonged to us. So if someone professes faith and walks away from Jesus and never returns they're anti-Christ. And if someone follows Jesus and falls away and returns well they're just a prodigal.

That's a lot of people out there. Maybe I'm talking to a prodigal right now. Someone that was raised in the church.

Someone that knows what is right. But you've gone astray. And you feel well I've gone so far I could never return.

No you can return. No confirm that you belong to Jesus Christ but if you don't return it confirms that you are actually anti-Christ. So we should seek to follow the example of the 144,000. Remember they follow Jesus wherever he goes. They live honest blameless lives and they fearlessly proclaim the gospel everywhere.

144,000. It's amazing what one life can do. The story is told of a man who spoke to another young man whose name was Dwight. And he said Dwight the world is yet to see what God can do with and through and in the man who is fully committed to him. Well the young man named Dwight who heard that was also known as Dwight Moody.

Better known as D.L. Moody. And Moody went on to become the greatest evangelist of his generation. One man. I just finished writing a book about Billy Graham. It's called Billy Graham.

The man that I knew. And it was just amazing for me to revisit his life. It's almost like a Bible story.

I mean it reminds me of Gideon how the Lord just called this young man to go deliver the Israelites. He was living in obscurity. That was Billy Graham. A farm boy living with his parents there in North Carolina.

Getting up really early in the morning to milk the cows. As a young man he aspired to be a professional baseball player and God had another plan. An evangelist came to his town and preached under a tent and young lanky Billy Frank as he was called walked forward and gave his life to Christ. Who would have known that God would use this young farm boy to touch the world? Who would have known that God would have used this unknown boy from North Carolina to be the greatest evangelist in human history? And who knows if I'm not talking to someone right now that could be the next D.L. Moody. The next Billy Graham.

The next Corrie Ten Boom. The next whoever God wants to use. What God can do in and through.

A man or a woman who is totally committed to him. Look at what he does to this group of 144,000. So many people come to Christ as a result of their testimony. Revelation 7, 9 says, Behold a great multitude that no one could number of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. That may be the largest revival in human history. So much for the vengeful God that enjoys judging people.

This happens in the tribulation period. Let me land this plane now and come back to what heaven knows about earth. These scenes that are happening on earth are viewed in heaven. And right now heaven is watching.

Do you want to make heaven share? Believe in Jesus Christ. And then He will put His mark on you.

He will put His ID tag on you. And you will come under His protection. And you will have the absolute assurance that when you leave this life and go to the afterlife you go into God's presence in heaven. As I said before, we decide in this life where we will spend the afterlife. My question to you is if you were to die today where would you go? According to the Bible there are two destinations. Heaven or hell.

If you put your faith in Jesus you go to heaven. If you end up in hell you have no one to blame but yourself. God is giving you a warning right now.

This is your wake up call. And He's saying believe in me. He's calling you to Himself. Jesus Christ the Son of God died on the cross for you 2,000 years ago. And He was crucified. And He bore your sin.

Jesus came to pay a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay. But the good news is is Jesus rose again from the dead three days later. And He's alive.

That's right. Jesus Christ is alive. And He's standing at the door of your life wherever you are. And He is knocking.

And He's saying if you'll hear His voice and open the door He will come in. Would you like Him to come into your life? Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to go to heaven when you die? Would you like to be ready for the next event on the prophetic calendar known as the rapture?

If so you need to pray and ask Jesus to come into your heart and life right now. In a moment we're gonna do that. And I'm gonna lead you in a simple prayer. So if you want your sin forgiven, if you want to go to heaven when you die, if you want to be ready for the Lord's return or if you're a prodigal and you need to come back home again pray this prayer with me. You can pray it out loud if you like. Or you can pray it in the quietness of your heart. But just pray this simple prayer after me right now.

Pray these words Lord Jesus. I know that I am a sinner. But I know that you are the savior who died on that 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. Thank you for hearing this prayer. Thank you for answering this prayer. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here. Thanks for listening to our podcast. And to learn more about Harvest Ministries please subscribe and consider supporting this show. Just go to harvest.org. And by the way, if you want to find out how to come into a personal relationship with God go to knowgod.org. That's K-N-O-W-G-O-D dot org.