See You in Paradise | Sunday Message

Hey there. Thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners. I'm Greg Laurie encouraging you.

If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. I'm Greg Laurie, and I'm your host, Greg. Thank you so much for listening.

I'm Greg Laurie, and I'm your host, Greg. It's like an all visitation like Tahiti or somewhere like that, just tropical and the water's 90 degrees and it's just insane. So much life.

And everything is so lush and green. Maybe it was your trip to Bakersfield that one year, and you know nothing can top that. Maybe it was Kahului, and you know that trip into town was just the absolute best. Right?

Probably not. It might just be that your favorite vacation is one that you go to the river. you know what, it's fun. Your friends are there, your family's there, there's good food, there's activities, you can hang out, it's hot, I get it.

It's a lot of fun. Maybe your favorite trip, your favorite vacation, wasn't really a vacation. It was actually more of like an expedition. It was like an exercise thing. Like you wanted to go overseas and go watch the Tour de France and ride your bike on some of those routes, or you wanted to go on a surf trip and you spent two weeks on a boat and you surfed every day and you came back and you lost like 50 pounds.

And so it could be that's your idea of a vacation. One of my favorite memories as a kid going on vacation was going up to Lake Shasta. A bunch of families from the church rented houseboats and everybody brought their toys and boats and jet skis and water skis and wakeboards and what was that thing called, the air chair.

Has anybody ever done the air chair? That thing was crazy. And it was just a lot of fun because it was all the families, lots of kids. There was a big potluck. We'd have a Bible study every morning.

There'd be big bonfires at night. We'd cook marshmallows and we would play capture the flag during the day. And it was fun because the little kids would play with the big kids. And I was one of the little kids.

And so playing with the big kids and having them on your team while you're trying to steal the flag and they're using you to steal the flag and they're trying to trick them. It was just, it was a lot of fun. Those are good memories, right? Well, when you're on vacation, something that you often will do is you'll send a postcard or maybe today you send an Instagram post, right? You take a selfie, wish you were here. Well, back in the day, you would send a postcard and you'd say, hey, greetings from paradise.

I wish you were here. But I can think of a few vacations that didn't turn out the way that I wanted them to. I don't know if you've had the same. It's interesting how a vacation to get started off on the wrong foot can taint the entire trip and ruin the whole trip. They lose your luggage, you miss your flight.

It gets delayed, you miss your connection. You get into an argument with your family as soon as you touch down and it just messes with the whole trip because of that one moment. It could be that your annual vacation has a notable absence. Your grandma who always came to the river with you or your brother who always was there or that child that you loved who was the life of the party and the life of the dinner table is no longer there. And now vacation just isn't what it once was and there's a hole in your heart.

It happens to all of us. Our idea of paradise falls short because of the troubles and the pains of this world. Well, just as the vacations sometimes don't go as planned, our lives here on earth sometimes don't go as planned. Our life on earth is often filled with unexpected difficulties, suffering, and loss.

It could be that your life plan didn't go according to plan. Your career, your marriage, your health, your education, you had aspirations, but for one reason or another, they have not gone the way that you hoped that they would. And I want to tell you today that there is hope for you. There is hope for you. And I want to tell you today that there is a promise that Jesus Himself makes that transcends all the problems you will face on this earth. There's a promise He makes that will transcend all the problems that you face on this earth and bring you hope. It doesn't mean that it will always be easy.

It doesn't mean that those problems are taken away. It doesn't mean that your pain is instantly removed, but it does mean that there is light at the end of the tunnel. And it does mean that yes, these light and momentary afflictions can achieve for us a reward that outweighs them all, if we trust the Lord and allow them to lead us to Him ultimately.

And so our message title today is See You in Paradise. And we're looking at Luke chapter 23, starting in verse 34. I'm reading from the New Living Translation this morning. We're looking at Jesus' first words as He hung from the cross as He was being crucified. Jesus said this in Luke chapter 23, verse 34.

Jesus said, "'Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing, they know not what they do.' And the soldiers gambled for His clothes by throwing dice, and the crowd watched, and the leaders scoffed. He saved others, they said. Let Him save Himself if He's really God's Messiah, if He's really the chosen one. And the soldiers mocked Him too, by offering Him a drink of sour wine. And they called out to Him, and they said, "'If you are really the King of the Jews, why don't you save yourself?'

A sign was fastened above Him with these words, this is the King of the Jews." That brings us to point number one, for those of you taking notes. And that is the reason for our redemption. The reason for our redemption.

This is just an incredible scene. Jesus, the Son of God, being crucified on a cross. And what are the first words out of His mouth? What are the first words as He's hanging on the cross, "'Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.'" What would your first words be if you were hanging from the cross?

Pierced, naked, being shamed, being ridiculed, and cursed, and made fun of, and pointed at, and guffed at, right? What would your first words be? Would they be cursing? Would they be condemning?

Would they be pointing the finger? What about your favorite athletes? What would their favorite words be if they were hanging on a cross like that?

How about your favorite politician? Probably not like what Jesus were. Some of the most important lessons that Jesus taught were when He was hanging from the cross. He taught forgiveness, He taught faith, He taught love as He hung there for you and for me. This is the reason for our redemption, it is Jesus. The reason for our redemption is Jesus. We read in John 3, 16 and 17, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. And He goes on, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Jesus' mission for us, for this world, was to forgive us, to ransom us. We were headed to hell.

We were separated from God because of our sin, and Jesus came to ransom us and pay that cost with His own blood. And while Jesus shed His own blood, naked and disfigured, beaten and bloodied, hanging on a cross, He says what? Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. He doesn't say, Father, let's just nuke this planet and get it all over with and start over. That would be my first word on the cross. Father, things are not going according to plan.

Let's just hit the reset button here. No, He says, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Jesus does not curse those crucifying Him. He does not hate those that are crucifying Him.

He does not seek revenge against those committing this atrocity. He asks God for forgiveness on their behalf. And this reminds us that God's forgiveness is offered to everyone, both sides of the spectrum. Whether you're a notorious sinner or you're a little old grandma who's never committed anything wrong in her whole life, you've been one of those good people your whole life, both sides of the spectrum need Jesus' forgiveness. God's forgiveness is offered to everyone. Whether you pounded the nail through Jesus' hands or whether you cussed out your parents or if you told a white lie to get yourself out of trouble, the fact is we all need forgiveness because we have all sinned and we are all on equal ground.

All have sinned. It was you and I who put Jesus on that cross. It wasn't one ethnic group or political group. It wasn't the Jews, it wasn't the Romans.

It wasn't the political and religious elite. It was a sacrifice made by Jesus on your behalf and on my behalf. A sacrifice that makes this life worth living. A sacrifice that gives us hope. A sacrifice on a level never before imagined.

God coming down from heaven in the form of a man to die in our place so that we can be reconciled to Him and have the hope of heaven. A sacrifice that makes us possible to be forgiven and live this life and life more abundantly. And so we benefit from it for sure. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we have eternal life so we benefit from it, but we are also called to model it. This may come as a surprise to some of you. Yes, we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior because, well, we don't wanna go to hell.

That's a good place to start. But as you grow in your faith, you find out that we are also now called to demonstrate this faith, to live out this faith, to model it, to show that love, to show that forgiveness, to show that generosity that God has shown to you. Jesus said in Matthew chapter six, "'If you forgive those who sin against you, "'your heavenly Father will forgive you. "'But if you refuse to forgive others, "'your Father will not forgive your sins.'" I don't know about you, but that's a really sobering verse, right? If I don't forgive, I won't be forgiven.

Lord, I thought I just had to call out in your name, and that's true. All that needs to be done to receive forgiveness, to receive salvation is repentance and ultimately your faith in Christ. But as you prove your faith, as you show that your faith is healthy and bearing good fruit, which is the only true faith, one that bears fruit, you are going to forgive as you have been forgiven.

And this is a hard thing, let's be honest. Forgiving is hard. Forgiveness is not something that comes naturally to us.

We wanna hold on to it, right? We wanna remember that. We wanna tattoo their name on our arms so we never forget what they did. I have found that the people who are the most willing to receive forgiveness from God and live with peace for the decisions and the mistakes they made in the past are those who often extend forgiveness the best.

Does that make sense? Those that forgive the most often are able to live at peace and have and receive the forgiveness that God offers so easily. Because the fact is so many people today have a hard time accepting forgiveness from God.

They feel that they're unworthy. They feel that there's nothing that they could do to get God's forgiveness. They feel like there's no way God could forgive them.

And maybe you feel that way today. You feel there's no way God could forgive you. Because you ruined that relationship, you feel you are unworthy of forgiveness. Because you neglected that child, you feel you're not worthy of forgiveness. Because you hurt those people because of your addiction, you're not worthy of forgiveness. You may feel that you had, because you had an abortion that God could never forgive or love someone like you. Or because you didn't say something sooner and your friend overdosed, you could never forgive yourself and God can never forgive you. Or it could just be that you let someone down and so you just feel terrible and you just can't forgive yourself and you don't know how God ever could forgive you. Listen, I want to tell you today that not only can you be forgiven, God wants to forgive you and you aren't worthy to be forgiven because of what you've done.

You are worthy because Jesus shed His blood for you and God loves you and you were made in the image of God and He wants that relationship with you. It's because Jesus died for you that you were able to receive that. But you're also called to forgive as you have been forgiven.

Yes, you were called to forgive. Now you might say, Jonathan, you don't understand my story. My sister, my father, my uncle, you don't know what I was subjected to and what they did to me. You don't know what that friend who I made that business deal did to me.

They stole this amount of money from me. They allowed this to take place in our friendship. You're right, I don't know what that's like. I don't know your story. I know what it's like to be wronged. I know what it's like to be taken advantage of and to be treated poorly, but every story is different. All I can tell you is, and my personal experience is that holding on to unforgiveness and holding on to that anger and even hatred is not gonna make it any better.

It's not gonna make it any better. Forgiving someone means that you release them of that debt. It means you release them of that debt.

I've heard unforgiveness described as eating poison and waiting for the rat to die, right? You see that person that you can't stand at work, that person that ratted you out when they should have ratted you out because you weren't working at your job and you were sleeping when you're supposed to be working. Oh, I hate that guy. They ratted me out. They got me in trouble with the boss.

He probably deserved it. But as they walk by and you just, oh, your blood pressure goes up and you clench and you just get so annoyed and you're frustrated, it tweaks the rest of your day. You know what? That person has no idea that you feel that way and they aren't even giving you a second thought as you walk by. So who's the one that's really suffering? It's you.

You're frustrated eating poison and waiting for the rat to die. Forgiving someone means that you release them of that debt. And I know that that's a heavy thing for some of you. You feel that that person is not worthy to be forgiven, but I got news for you.

Neither are you. You are not worthy to be forgiven and neither am I. Forgiveness does not mean that you have to make best friends with the person that you're forgiving. And it definitely doesn't mean that you have to make yourself vulnerable to that person or that situation. Again, that's not what forgiveness means. Forgiveness means you release them of that debt. You no longer hold it against that person and you let it go. You are a human being created in the image of God and you have value. You have value because you are God's created in His image and He loves you and He has a plan for your life. And that means that you don't allow people to take advantage of you. That means that if you forgive someone, you don't allow yourself to go into that situation where they hurt you and they're gonna get to do that again. You don't need to make yourself vulnerable.

You need to release that person of that debt. You are a human and you are beautiful created in the image of God. And that means you are valuable. You know, the things that we value the most as humans in this life are usually the things that are the most rare, right? And the rare earth metals and the rare stones that we find in this life. We find rubies and diamonds and gold and silver and all these different things. Those are the most valuable things.

But can I tell you, to God, those things are pretty much worthless. To God, it's asphalt. When you get to heaven, the streets are paved with gold, right? It's asphalt. So imagine walking out of church today and picking up a handful of dirt and putting in your pocket and then bringing it to your friend that does landscaping. Oh, I got a gift for you.

What am I supposed to do with this? Look, God is not interested in our gold. He is not interested in our silver or our precious gems. He can make all the gold He needs. He can make all the diamonds and jewels and silver. All that currently exists was made by God. In 2004, there were some astronomers in Texas that discovered a planet about 40 light years away that is two times the size of earth and about eight times as dense. And they found out that this planet is made entirely of diamonds, entirely of diamonds. Oh, it's amazing, right?

How much is that worth? There's probably entire galaxies made of gold and diamonds and unknown precious gems, but that is not what God treasures, the Bible tells us. God treasures you. He says that you are His treasure. He calls you a peculiar treasure.

I know I'm a peculiar treasure. I find it peculiar that God would treasure me. But gold, diamonds and rubies are not God's treasure. That is not the value that counts to God. You are the thing that God values. You are the thing that He counts. He has made only one of you. You wanna talk about rarity.

Value is usually determined by the rarity and God loves you and values you and He wants you to be part of His family. And that means that you don't allow yourself to be hurt. That means you don't allow yourself to be taken advantage of. And so forgiveness is not going and putting yourself back into that situation and allowing yourself to be subjected to that pain and suffering and that manipulation and that theft from you.

It means that you release that person from that debt, but you know who they are and you protect yourself. But we are called to forgive as we have been forgiven. The reason for our redemption is to lead others to Jesus, guiding them to the source of all spiritual and physical life and helping them develop a relationship with Him. And so one of the key ways we do that is by forgiving as we have been forgiven. As Jesus forgave us and it was His kindness that leads us to repentance, we are to reflect that value as well and live it out as we see Jesus doing that on the cross between two criminals for a crime that He was not guilty of. He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

He set the example for us. And so point number one, the reason for our redemption. And now point number two, the promise of paradise.

Moving on to verse 39. We read one of the criminals hanging beside Jesus scoffed. Oh, so you're the Messiah, are you? Why don't you prove it by saving yourself and us too while you're at it?

But the other criminal protested. Don't you fear God, even who you've been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man, he's done nothing wrong. And he said to Jesus, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus replied, I assure you today, you will be with me in paradise.

I will see you in paradise. So let's look at this scene for a moment. Jesus is crucified between these two criminals, a direct fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in chapter 53, which says, I will give the Messiah the honors of a victorious soldier because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels and he bore the sins of many and interceded for the rebels. So we see a direct fulfillment of that prophecy here. The crucifixion of Jesus just on that day alone fulfilled 20 Old Testament prophecies, over 20 prophecies. There was the crucifixion itself by being nailed to a tree. There was the betrayal of Judas, of Jesus by Judas. There was the amount that he would be betrayed for, the scattering of the disciples after, the scourging and the mocking. All of these things were prophesied.

Over 20 prophecies on the day of Jesus' crucifixion and over 300 in his life, according to Bible scholars. And so we look at Jesus between these two criminals. Now, tradition has told us that they were what? They were thieves, right? It was two thieves that Jesus hung between, but the fact is Rome didn't crucify thieves. Thievery, theft, was not a capital offense that Rome would crucify somebody over.

It saved crucifixion for pretty much the worst of the worst, the absolute worst of people. It's far more likely that these two men were hanging there because they had murdered someone or they had committed some sort of insurrection, an act of terrorism against Rome or maybe some other violent act. And then there's Jesus hanging between the two guilty men. Matthew and Mark's gospel tell us that they both were blaspheming Jesus at the beginning.

They were both cursing Jesus, making fun of him, cursing him, challenging him, accusing and slandering him. But as time went on, something happened in that one thief. One of those criminals, rather, saw Jesus' behavior and he realized no mere human, no normal human would respond the way that this man is. It could be that this criminal had heard about Jesus. Maybe he heard one of his teachings or maybe he just saw Jesus for the first time hanging on that cross and that was his one time to see the way that Jesus was operating. But ultimately, he changes his heart, or rather the Lord changes his heart. And we don't know exactly what went through his mind except that the next words out of his mouth, he was calling out that other man who was rebuking Jesus and he said, don't you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die.

We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man has done nothing wrong. And he asked Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. There is no human explanation for what happened to him. There's no explanation. One moment he's cursing Jesus in intense agony and pain.

I'm sure his mind was racing, just thinking over the decisions that he had made in his life, his course of life that he had gone through, all the mistakes that he made. Oh, I never should have gone and done that first crime. I never should have started hanging out with this group of friends.

I never should have done this because look where it's brought me to. I'm here on a cross. My hands are pierced. My feet are pierced. I'm hanging from this splintered and blood-stained cross.

What have I done? You can imagine what they were going through and what they were thinking about, but now something changes. He's no longer bitter and angry and cursing Jesus. He looks to Jesus and he acknowledges his own guilt. He recognizes Jesus' innocence and he confesses Jesus as Lord and King. And he asks him, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And a lot of people like to use the thief on the cross as an example of a deathbed conversion. And yes, those do happen.

And I've seen them and I've heard them take place. But we must never use this thief as an excuse for delay in deciding for Jesus. The reality is that this was probably the first encounter this man had with Jesus, and therefore he was saved at his first opportunity. We do not know when we will meet the Lord, whether it will be at a late stage in life or unexpectedly at a premature time.

The only thing that will matter is when you do meet him, what is your relationship with him? Did you receive him as your Lord and Savior? Did you receive that forgiveness?

It's not good people that go to heaven, it's forgiven people. The criminal didn't get to be baptized. He didn't get to learn the Lord's prayer.

He didn't get to volunteer at church or learn the catechism. He didn't even get to memorize John 3.16, but he did confess Jesus as Lord publicly before God and men. And because of that, Jesus says to him, I assure you today you will be with me in paradise. See you in paradise.

What a picture. What a great word to use, paradise. Jesus could have used a lot of different words here. He could have said, today you will be with me and the Father and the angels.

Good enough for me, that sounds great, right? You'll be with me with the Father and the angels. You'll be with me in my kingdom. You'll be with me in heaven. You'll be with me in eternity.

You'll be with me in Sheol. Jesus could have used a lot of different words here, but paradise, that's attractive. That paints a word, doesn't it?

That paints a picture. The Greek word Jesus used is paradisos. That's the original language that the Bible was written in. And it's used only three times in the New Testament. All three times paradise was used in the New Testament, it was referring to heaven. And it was translated as paradise. And so what will paradise be like? Can it be lost? What will heaven be like? Can we somehow ruin it like a middle seat and a delayed flight can ruin a vacation?

The answer to those questions is an absolute no. And that's good news, isn't it? Paradise cannot be lost. And unlike Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, you cannot ruin it this time. The Greek word used is a Persian word, the Greeks borrowed, that specifically describes the parks and gardens of a Persian king surrounded by a wall.

And so what do you get from that? We get that heaven is a prepared place. It's a beautiful place. It's gonna be like the garden in the palace of a king. It's gonna be incredible. There's gonna be natural beauty along with man-made structures in place to compliment them.

It's gonna be amazing. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. Jesus, or excuse me, we read in Psalm 16 what heaven is gonna be like. And we read, you will show me the path of life, the psalmist says, in your presence is fullness of joy at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Jesus also tells us that I go to prepare a place for you. I will prepare a place for you. And he is there ahead of us now.

And he's been there preparing it and is gonna be amazing. In paradise, in heaven, we will have uninterrupted fellowship with God. There will be no more sin, no sin to mar it and to mess it up and to destroy it and to separate us from God. In heaven, there will be perfect harmonious relationships with other people, friends and family. There will be no more unforgiveness.

There'll be no more problems, no more issues. There's gonna be restored nature. That means there's no pollution, no unblemished or natural wonders that are all messed up and thrashed. You're gonna see things that exceed any natural wonders we have on earth today.

Places like the Grand Canyon, the Alps, the Amazon rainforest, Bakersfield, Kahului. You're gonna see things that exceed the beauty of those by far. Everything will be enhanced because all things will be perfected versions of themselves. We'll have new creativity like never before. New works of art will be done.

New scores of music will be written. Who knows, there'll probably be new instruments and new ways to be creative. There'll be new creation.

All kinds of things are going to be there. And we read in Revelation chapter 21 that Jesus will be there and He will wipe away every tear from our eyes. And there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. And all these things will be gone forever. And we will see Jesus face to face and we'll be able to fall at His feet in worship.

All our lives, Randy Alcorn says this. He's the author of a book called Heaven. And I would encourage every Christian who wants to know more about heaven to buy this book. It is an amazing book that covers exhaustively every aspect of heaven you could think of. It's a textbook, it's thick, but it was such a source of comfort when my brother Christopher went to be with the Lord, reading through it and knowing what he's experiencing right now, what the future holds, what his body is like, what our bodies are going to be like.

Randy Alcorn says this. All our lives, we've been dreaming of the new earth. Whether we see beauty in water, wind, flower, deer, man, woman, or child, we catch a glimpse of heaven. Just like the Garden of Eden, the new earth will be a place of sensory delight, breathtaking beauty, satisfying relationships, and personal joy. That's what paradise is going to be like. That's what we have to look forward to. That's the light at the end of the tunnel for us. Yes, in this world, you will have tribulation, but take heart because I have overcome the world, Jesus told us.

So we know what our future is and what we can look forward to. Yesterday, when we were baptizing at Pirates Cove, I baptized a young kid. He's about 16 years old and he comes up and he's like, oh, hey, yeah, I want to be baptized.

And yeah, this is really exciting. And it was cool because he wasn't one of those mumbled teenagers that doesn't want to look you in your eye and actually have a dialogue. He was like really engaged, eye contact, talking with me. He was impressive.

It was great. And he said, I want you to pray for me. And I said, okay, you know, yeah, I'll pray for you. What do you want me to pray for you for? He said, pray for me that I don't follow my emotions anymore. That I don't follow my emotions anymore.

They never lead me to good places. I just want to follow God. And once I got past that lump in my throat, once I got past that lump in my throat, I did pray for him. And I just thought that is the struggle we all face, isn't it? That's the struggle we all face.

I want to follow God, but man, my emotions and my heart, it pulls me in another direction. You know, we think that sex, drugs, and alcohol, or money, success, and possessions, or status, fame, and respect is going to deliver the ultimate. We think that's what we want, but what we really want is not a what, it's a who. What we were made for is a relationship with Jesus Christ, and heaven is our destination.

Nothing less can fulfill our desires. See you in paradise. There's a famous hymn that was sung in churches for many years, and the refrain says this, "'Turn your eyes upon Jesus, "'look full in his wonderful face, "'and the things of earth will go strangely dim "'in the light of his glory and grace.'" As you look at the Lord, as you keep your eyes fixed on him, and as you follow him obediently, and you don't get distracted and look back to old things, or turn back to that old way of living, as you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, what happens? The things of earth grow strangely dim.

Those things that you once had that were so alluring to you, that drew you to them, and you knew were destructive for you, but, oh, they felt good in the moment, those things suddenly don't have that same allure that they once did. I don't know if you've ever stargazed before, and you lay on your back, and you look up at the night sky. You can really do that well in Riverside, California. Just kidding.

Anywhere in California, for that matter. But if you go to a place where there's no natural light pollution, and you can really see all the stars, it's amazing, isn't it? You see all the galaxies, and the Milky Way, and it's incredible to observe them. But as you lay on your back, and sometimes if you fixate on one star, or one constellation, and really focus on it, something interesting begins to happen.

All the other stars begin to kind of melt away, and your peripheral vision kind of fades away, and you're able to focus on that one star. That's really what it's like when we look at Jesus, when we follow Him. The things of earth grow strangely dim.

Those things that once had that allure are no longer attractive. You look to Jesus, you look at Him, you look in the light of His glory and grace. I think that's so insightful.

It's the same thing with Jesus. Again, the more you look at Him, the more things will grow dim. And I hope that you can look forward to heaven more than you did before, as we learn a little bit about paradise. But I want to ask you in closing, as you consider all that God has done for you, as you consider all the blessings that He has given to you, forgiveness, eternal life, life here on this earth and life more abundantly, I want you to think about this for a moment. How can you offer yourself to God? God has given Himself to you. He's given you His Son, He's given you His Holy Spirit. How can you give yourself to God?

A lot of times we show up to church and we want to know what God offers us. What do I get out of this deal, right? How He's going to show up for me? How's He going to bless me?

How's He going to get me out of this situation? How's He going to answer this prayer request? What's in it for us?

How's it going to benefit me? Listen, He's already done it all for us. He's done everything. And we have the audacity to continue to ask Him for more. And sometimes we're not even willing to keep our end of the deal up, which is to make Him our Lord and to follow Him in His commands. He's already solved our greatest problem.

He's already fulfilled our deepest desire. It's now our turn to respond to Him. Let me ask you today, do you read your Bible? Do you read your Bible? Do you do it like on a regular basis? Do you read it every day? How about every week?

Once a month maybe? Think about how are you going to have a relationship with God who primarily communicates with you through His word, through the Bible, if you're not even opening it up. If you and I, we had a friendship and the primary way that we communicated was through text messaging.

But the way and the only way we communicated was through text. But you never opened that thread and you left me unread and you just left that little thing, there's a little blue dot next to it. But you never opened it up and looked at it to see the things that I had to say, the things that I was sharing with you. We wouldn't have much of a relationship, would we?

We wouldn't have much of a friendship. That's what God is doing for us. Do you read your Bible?

Do you spend time with them on a regular basis? When's the last time you spent more than just a minute or two in prayer? Thank you, Lord, for this food.

In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, that's great, I'm glad that you pray for your food. But do you pray and seek Him and thank Him for what He has done? Do you spend time with Him by yourself? Do you have a prayer room? Do you have an area in your house that you can go and just spend time with the Lord?

Do you ever have that quiet time? Listen, I wanna tell you, you are missing out on one of the greatest parts of your relationship with God. It's not just the blessings, it's the intimacy.

It's the fellowship with God, knowing your Father is in heaven and He is in heaven. Your Father is in heaven and He has good plans for you, the peace that comes as a result. And so will you take a moment and evaluate your faith and ask yourself, is this a relationship or do I look at God as some kind of like sugar daddy that I'm always asking Him for stuff and begging Him for things? Oh, hey, God, good to hear, I love you.

Can I have this and can you solve this problem? Because God loves us, a lot of times He does answer those prayers, but that's not a relationship He wants with us. If He's our Father and He loves us as His children, what does a good child do? A child obeys their Father, they love their Father.

They listen to the things that He tells them to do and they follow the guidelines that they set in place for us. A great way to jumpstart your faith is to start serving at church in one of our ministries. That's a great place to get started by serving the Lord. You get surrounded with strong believers who love Jesus and love you. You make friends outside of school and work.

You make friends outside of the bar. And most importantly, it brings God glory. Remember, the reason for our redemption is to what? To bring others to Jesus. We need to make sure that we're in the right fellowship, we're in the right community.

And whether it's serving on Sunday morning or helping us at our baptism or at the Harvest Crusade, that's all great. It could be joining a small group. It could be that you just need to get into a daily reading plan and spending time with the Lord. Listen, God has a plan for you and you are leaving that book closed.

You don't know what that plan's going to be. God wants to use you and to bless you. This last week, we saw 50,000 people in person at the Harvest Crusade, 200,000 online. We saw over 5,000 people make a profession of faith in person and online. And we saw 2,000 people baptized yesterday. Listen, God is using this church. Will you get involved? Will you allow him to use you and to bless your family and bless your community and make yourself available?

Because you know what? We're gonna see the Lord in paradise. Are we gonna see our neighbor? As Christians, we should be able to see that to every person we come into contact, hopefully, as we lead them to the Lord. See you in paradise.

What a hopeful thing that we all have. We read in 2 Peter 1-3, and I'll close with this. By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We've received all this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And Father, as we reflect on the sacrifice that you made on that cross, and we reflect on the paradise that we all have in store for us as a result of your sacrifice, Lord, all we can do is say thank you. We love you, and Lord, we want to be more like you.

We want to model the character traits that you lived out, Jesus. We know we can't do those on our own, and we need your Holy Spirit. So Lord, would you fill us today? Would you help us to walk with you? Help us to lead our families well. Help us to demonstrate the faith that we have and the hope that we have inside of us, always being prepared to give every man an answer for what we believe.

Thank you. And while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying together, there may be some here today who have not yet received that forgiveness that we were talking about, that forgiveness that Jesus paid for. Your ticket is at the ticket stand. All you have to do is pick it up and receive it, and you'll have the hope of heaven. Everything has been covered.

Everything has been paid for. Jesus said on the cross, tetelestai, which means it is finished. The work of salvation is accomplished.

Nothing more needs to be done. Salvation comes by grace through faith. That's all we need is faith in God.

And as we have that faith, He is gonna transform us and make us into a beautiful new creation as a child of His family. And so if you're here today and you have not received that forgiveness, and you're still walking around carrying that burden of guilt and shame, I wanna tell you today, He'll take that from you. He'll forgive you.

He'll extend you that forgiveness because He loves you. And so if you'd like to receive that forgiveness, if you'd like to have that hope of heaven, that hope of paradise, would you just raise your hand wherever you are? And I wanna lead you in a prayer.

Wherever you are, whatever campus you might be watching from raise your hand up so I can pray for you. God bless you in the back here. God bless you up on the balcony.

You as well, you raise your hand up. God bless you. God bless you. God loves you. He has this plan for you. He offers you paradise, but not just paradise. He offers you life and life more abundantly, fulfillment in this life. Yes, God gives us so much.

All He wants is our heart and to follow Him. It's the greatest thing that you could ever do. So anybody else, you raise your hand up and we'll pray together. God bless you.

That's great. Okay, for those of you that have raised your hand, I'm just gonna ask that you would pray this prayer out loud after me. You would mean it in your heart as you talk to God, your Father in heaven.

Pray this now. Dear God, I know I'm a sinner, but I know that Jesus is the Savior who died on the cross for my sin. And I thank you for His sacrifice.

And I thank you for your love for me. And so I turn from my sin now from this moment forward. Help me to walk with you and talk with you and hear from you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. God bless you that prayed that just now. God bless you.

Amazing. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries, follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to harvest.org. And to find out how to know God personally, go to harvest.org and click on Know God.