What Heaven Knows About Earth: Property of God

Hey everybody, you're listening to A New Beginning, which is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners. If this program has impacted you, I'd love to hear from you, so just send an email to me at gregg.harvest.org. Again, it's gregg.harvest.org.

You can learn more about becoming a Harvest Partner by going to harvest.org. It's so easy to confuse one travel bag for another at the airport carousel. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie says there's a lesson to be learned here. Everybody has black luggage, right? And a lot of us have luggage probably from the same company, and 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. You belong to the Lord.

You're the Lord's property. The closer we get to the Lord's return, the more important it is to be truly part of the family of God. And in order to bring more into God's family, we want to make sure you'll be a part of SoCal Harvest, Pastor Greg Laurie's large evangelistic event coming October 3rd.

Although it's based at Angel Stadium in California, you can be apart from anywhere by going to harvest.org. But today on A New Beginning, we'll see just how pivotal it is to be properly identified as one of God's own. Grab your Bibles and turn to Revelation chapter 6. We come to a new section in our series on the book of Revelation. 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 a fig tree drops its late figs when it's shaken by a mighty wind.

And then the sky receded as a scroll when it's 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 non-believers 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'm talking to somebody right now who's on their deathbed and you've done some horrible things with your life and you've made some horrible decisions and you've 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've committed if you will call out to Jesus Christ He will forgive you. The Bible tells the story of a 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 said no matter what you've 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'll tell you how in just a few moments. But these people are not turning to God. They're pretty much dying as they have lived. In effect they're calling out to mother nature. They're not saying God hide us or God forgive us.

And even more God save us. They're 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'd be laughing. And I'd act like I didn't know where they were. Where are you Ali? Where are you Lucy? Christopher? And I would find them.

And then I'd say let's do it again. Go hide. And they'd hide in the same place. That's us hiding from God. 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 Psalm 139. I can never escape from your spirit. I can never get away from your presence. If I go up to heaven you're 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 the 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 7. Look at verse 1. 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 4 to 8 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 super powered 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. Then later in Revelation 14 4 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. And did you know God has put a mark on you?

Now when we think of 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. Like when I go to the airport and I wait for my luggage it's like everybody has black luggage right? And a lot of us have luggage probably from the same company and so it comes down the little belt there and 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. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We hear from so many people who find Christ through Pastor Greg's teachings. Pastor Greg, I was saved at your harvest crusade at Anaheim Stadium about 20 years ago. Before that, I could hardly stand to look in the mirror because I was lost in a world of drugs and violence.

In fact, I had many friends and family who died when I was young and I always figured I wouldn't be far behind. The day I went to your harvest crusade, I was kind of embarrassed to be there and didn't understand what this was all about. Then you came on stage and began to grab my attention. God was speaking through your mouth to my heart. I started crying and didn't know why, but I knew I wanted everything you were talking about, the love, the forgiveness, eternal life. You did an altar call for anyone who wanted to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. I popped up and jumped through the rows to get to the field so that I could commit my life to Jesus Christ.

I just felt the need to share this with you. I pray that God continues to use you to help save the lost. Thank you, Jesus. And thank you, Pastor Greg, for sharing God's love with so many. What a great story of how God used the Harvest Crusade to bring this man to Christ. And tell a friend about Pastor Greg's next event, SoCal Harvest, October 3rd at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. Get information and get involved by going to harvest.org.

That's harvest.org. Well, today from Revelation 6 and 7, Pastor Greg is pointing out how the Lord will secure those who are His during the cataclysm of the end times and before. 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 have 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 are not going to 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 going to 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 going to 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 antichrist 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? Antichrist 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 antichrist? Now some of you will push back and say, well, Greg, even you said antichrist has not appeared yet. So clearly I'm not carrying the mark of antichrist. Well, in a broad sense, you are either for Christ or you're for antichrist. Because antichrist 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 antichrist. 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 antichrist who denies the father and the son.

Listen to this. When someone professes faith in Jesus and walks away, they're antichrist. 1 John 2 18 says, dear children, this is the last hour. And as you've heard, the antichrist is coming. But even now, many antichrists 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 antichrist. 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. And that will confirm that you belong to Jesus Christ. But if you don't return, it confirms that you are actually antichrist. 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 of them. 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, a young, lanky 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. 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's 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 this simple prayer. So if you want your sin forgiven, if you wanna go to heaven when you die, if you wanna 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. An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie with those making a change in their relationship with God today. And if you yourself have prayed with Pastor Greg and made a decision for the Lord, we'd like to help you get started in your new relationship with God. We'd like to send you our New Believers Growth Packet.

It's a collection of resources Pastor Greg has put together to help answer your questions and get you started off right in your walk of faith. And we'll send it your way without any charge. Just write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300.

We can take your call anytime 24-7, again 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click the words, Know God. And thanks for letting us know how you're enjoying this brand new series in the book of Revelation. Well Pastor Greg, I'm sure our listeners are enjoying this new series in the book of Revelation. And they'll enjoy your new book on Revelation that takes this insight even further as well. But I've got to think that the first time a pastor decides to teach from the book of Revelation is a little sobering, a little intimidating.

Do you remember the first time you dove in? Yes, it is all the above. It's an overwhelming book. It's a book that's filled with imagery.

It's a book that's filled with statements that are not always easily understood. But I think as you begin to piece it together and understand that studying the book of Daniel is a great help and understanding the book of Revelation, understanding the format of it, understanding the purpose of it, it suddenly comes into focus for you. You know, just take the word revelation. By the way, it's revelation singular, not revelations plural. I bring this up because people often say, well I've been reading revelations. Well look, it's revelation. But revelation means to unveil. So God's not trying to hide things from us. He's trying to unveil, reveal things to us.

You know what's interesting? Jesus in Matthew 24 in what we call the Olivet Discourse says, when you see the abomination of desolation happen, then we read, let the reader understand. So Jesus is talking about end times events and there's that little detail, let the reader understand. So why would Jesus say that if he didn't want us to understand Bible prophecy and how it applies to us today?

I believe we're living in the last days. I believe Jesus could come back at any moment and I believe we need to be ready and the book of Revelation will help us to live a life that is prepared for the return of Christ and we are not only teaching on it here on A New Beginning, but we have a brand new book that we have just completed and I'm so excited about this because this is going to help you understand this great book of Revelation and how Bible prophecy applies to you. The title of the book is simply Revelation, subtitled A Book of Promises. So I hope you'll order this book that we will send to you for your gift of any size and whatever you send we will use to enable us to continue to teach the Word of God here on our radio broadcast A New Beginning and also to proclaim the gospel and call people to Jesus Christ. So order your copy of this brand new book, Revelation, A Book of Promises and we'll send it to you for your gift of any size.

Yeah, that's right. It's such a rich book. In fact, it even promises a special blessing. No other book of the Bible does that and we'll send you this new resource to thank you for your donation right now. Hey Dave, let me jump in really quick and not only are we offering this new book, Revelation, A Book of Promises, but we have this really cool graphic bookmark that we have put together that gives you a timeline of end times event. So you probably wondered, okay, I know I've heard about the rapture and the tribulation period and the anti-Christ and the second coming.

What happens when? Well, this very beautiful little visual bookmark sort of lays it out for you. That's included in the book you're talking about right now. Yeah, that's right.

It comes automatically. So get in touch with your donation today and we'll thank you with a copy of Revelation, A Book of Promises. You can write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300.

That's a 24-7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org. And then you may have heard something exciting is coming up in less than two weeks. It's SoCal Harvest at Angel Stadium, Pastor Greg's first live evangelistic event since the pandemic. On October 3rd, he welcomes Phil Wickham and for King & Country and presents a powerful gospel message. If you're here in Southern California, be sure to join us and bring someone who needs to meet the Lord. Elsewhere, be sure to tune in online and invite someone who needs to meet the Lord to watch along with you.

You can get all the details at harvest.org slash SoCal. Next time as Pastor Greg continues with his eye-opening insights from Revelation, we'll begin a study of the judgments that come upon the earth during the Great Tribulation. You'll begin to understand this drama like you never have before. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie. A New Beginning is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. If this show has impacted your life, share your story, leave a review on your favorite podcast app, and help others find hope.