The Hope of Heaven | Navigating Life's Challenges

A New Beginning presents a book from Pastor Greg Laurie, with help for those suffering loss, called Hope for Hurting Hearts. God has used this book over the years to touch many people. If you've lost a loved one, or if you know someone that's recently lost a loved one, it would be an excellent thing to get this book into their hands, because I really wrote it for them. So we're offering you a copy of this book, Hope for Hurting Hearts, for your gift of any size.

Available at Harvest.org. It's a super natural certainty. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

Oh, can you hear when the angels are singing? This is the day, the day when life begins. As believers, we know we're going to heaven. One day we'll walk the streets of gold and be overwhelmed by the presence of the Lord Himself.

But back here on concrete and asphalt, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the presence of our problems. How do we make it through the here and now as we wait for the hereafter? Today on A New Beginning, as Pastor Greg Laurie continues his series of hopeful messages, we'll learn how to find reassurance in God's promises in Scripture.

This is the day, the day when life begins. Hope. That is a theme of our series.

And I would say it is in relatively short supply these days. It has been said that man can live 40 days without food, three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only one second without hope. So the objective of this series has been to bring a measure of hope for each of you no matter what you are facing because we all need hope.

Listen. There may be times when you feel helpless, but you never should feel hopeless. And the Bible brims with promises of hope for every follower of Jesus Christ.

Well let me say this. Where are we going to find this hope that we so desperately need? Before I tell you where to find it let me tell you where you won't find it. You are not going to find the hope that you need in people or things. Nor are you going to find it in a politician or a political persuasion regardless of what side of the aisle it is on.

Nor are you going to find it in technology or science or in a relationship or in an accomplishment. Years ago there was a great intellect known as George Bernard Shaw. He was a person who won a Nobel Prize in literature. He was a great writer and thinker and was also very outspoken about his atheism. George Bernard Shaw believed in science. And he believed that man could accomplish great things through his technology and so forth. And this is pretty much what his belief was in life. But as he came to the end of his life George Bernard Shaw lost hope. And he made this statement and I quote, "'The science to which I pin my faith is bankrupt.

Its counsels, which should have established a millennium, led instead directly to the suicide of Europe. I believed them once. In their name I helped to destroy the faith of millions of worshipers and the temples of a thousand gods. And now they look at me and witness the great tragedy of an atheist who lost his faith.'"

You see George Bernard Shaw put his faith in the wrong thing. What is your hope in right now? I think when we use the word hope today people may define it differently than the Bible does. And they think of hope. They think of well it is just something that I wish for or I expect. We might use other words interchangeably for it like fate or good luck or serendipity or maybe wishing upon a star.

Right? You can wish upon a star all that you want but things will not always turn out better. Things will not always be resolved. Sometimes they will even get worse. Sometimes people will put their hope in their investments or in their bank account or in their home that they live in.

But listen to what the Bible says in Job 8.11. "'The hope of the godless comes to nothing. Everything they count on will collapse.

They are leaning on a spider web. They cling to their home for security, but it won't last. They try to hold it fast, but it will not endure.'"

No. We should not put our hope in man. We should not put our hope in things. We need to put our hope in God. That is what the Bible teaches. Psalm 42 says, "'Why am I discouraged?

Why am I sad? I will put my hope in God.'" And this will give us the strength to go on in life because we know that there is an afterlife where things will be made right.

Now listen. When you make a statement like that it will make some people angry. Especially atheists. I came across an atheist website a while back that was very critical of something that I wrote. And I want to just tell you I am really happy when atheists are mad at me.

Any time I tick them off I figure I am doing something right. If the atheists are enjoying what I am saying I am doing something wrong. Well anyway an article that I had posted was reposted on their website and refuted. They quoted me in my article saying these words. When a Christian dies it is a direct flight to heaven.

There are no stopovers. The moment we take our last breath on earth we will take our first breath in heaven. We go into the presence of God.

I would agree with that. And the atheists are apparently outraged by this and here is what they say in response. Going to heaven after death is assumed. Not only does Laurie start with this unsubstantiated and onerous assumption but then he goes on to more detail about the precise state of affairs that take place in heaven once you arrive and what evidence is offered to bolster these claims.

Nothing at all. Just a bunch of Bible quotes. That's right.

That's right. I don't expect atheists to understand the hope of a Christian. But I want to tell you something. This hope that we have is not wishful thinking. Nor is it blind optimism.

It is a quiet confidence. It is a supernatural certainty. And where do we find this hope? We find it in the pages of Scripture.

Or as the atheists would say, just a bunch of Bible quotes. Yes true and lasting hope comes from God and His Word. Psalm 114 says, "'You are my refuge and my shield. Your Word is my only source of hope.'" In fact Scripture tells us that one of the reasons it was given to us was to bring us hope. Romans 15 4 says, Such things were written in Scripture long ago to teach us to give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises. Now it is very important for us to understand what the Bible means when it speaks of hope. It is not the hope of this world. It is not that shallow wishful thinking.

Rather it is something altogether different. In fact in Scripture in the Greek and Hebrew words that translate to hope they speak of certainty. In other words hope in the Bible is a strong and confident expectation. Let me repeat that again.

Hope in the Bible is a strong and confident expectation. Again as I said earlier it is a supernatural certainty. Listen. I can't explain it to you. I just know I have it. And I believe many of you have it as well. And you want to know where this hope will grow stronger?

It will grow stronger in crisis. See it is one thing to talk about it in theory. It is another thing to talk about it in practice. Well we have to put it to the test and see if it does what it is supposed to do. And I want to tell you something that I have put my faith to the test and I have tried out the promises of God.

I have taken them all for a test ride and they perform beautifully. I have found all of these things that I have been preaching all these years to be completely true. And that is very reassuring to me. Now I don't know if it is reassuring to you. You don't have to build your faith in what I tell you. In fact I hope you never do. But I am just telling you as a Christian who has applied these truths I have found God's promises are completely trustworthy.

And I as a result of this want to bring this same hope to others. I am not a person who has gone through a valley and now I am on the other side and everything is hunky dory. Whatever that means. Hunky dory. I haven't used that phrase in a long time. It kind of dates me doesn't it.

Hunky dory. But it doesn't mean that is what it is. Because for me it is more like a person who is going through a valley that is finding the hope he needs day by day and is looking forward to that hope being there for the next day. And thus I want to share it with others. And as the Scripture says, I want to comfort with the comfort that I have been comforted with.

And why is this important? Well because things don't always work out so well. You know in this series we have talked about hope for those that have lost loved ones. Hope for those that are facing crisis. Hope for both singles and married people. Hope for those who have prodigal children. But honestly there are times when things don't work out as we had hoped. That marriage unravels and never comes back together. That prodigal child never returns home.

That single person never finds a mate. That person in crisis doesn't have the happy resolution they were hoping for. Or that person that prayed for the healing is not healed and in fact they get worse. Well then what? Then just give up hope?

No. Listen. Then I recognize that whatever happens in this life, be it wonderful or painful, is only temporary. You know we make so much of this life. But it comes and goes rather quickly. The Bible says in 1 Chronicles 29, 15, We are here only for a moment, Visitors and strangers in our land as our ancestors were before us.

Our days on earth are like a shadow gone so soon without a trace. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hearing from listeners whose families have been touched by Pastor Greg's teachings is very encouraging.

Hi Pastor Greg. 33 years ago I was able to attend one of the Harvest Crusades with my now wife. And that night you taught me a lot of things about Jesus and where my life is going.

That night changed my life forever. I want to thank you for all of the messages that you give this coming weekend. We get to baptize our seven-year-old granddaughter. My son has been a youth pastor for years. What you did for me 30-some years ago has led our family to go and work in the ministries.

And I can't say thank you enough. We appreciate hearing how this family has been impacted by Harvest Ministries. If you have a story to tell, would you consider writing Pastor Greg an email? Send it to gregatharvest.org.

Again that's gregatharvest.org. Well today Pastor Greg brings us a look at our greatest hope, the hope of heaven. I think we think far too much of this life and not enough of the next one. We think far too much about life on earth and far too little about eternity. Randy Alcorn in his book We Shall See God writes these words and I quote, "'Eternal life' means enjoying the finest moments on earth the way they were intended, since in heaven we will finally experience life at its best. It would be more accurate to call our present experience the before life rather than to call what follows the afterlife." End quote.

I think that is a great thought. We are living in the before life. We are talking about the afterlife. This is the before life.

And the before life happens pretty quickly. Sort of like when you go to the movies and the trailers start to roll. The previews. You know I have often found that the trailers are better than the movies.

They are promoting. All the best bits are in the trailer. But you don't go to the movie to watch a trailer. You go to the movie to have a four course meal.

Talk and check your texts throughout. Right. That is what I think some people go to the movie for.

It is like could you like just leave now. But generally we go to a movie to watch the film itself. Well in many ways life on earth is like the trailers that come and go rather quickly. And the film is like eternity. That is the main event. So we think so much about this part.

We don't think about that part. That is the main event that everything is building up toward. Eternity is well eternal. That means it goes on and on without end.

One person summed it up this way. Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset. Eternity to the wicked is a night that has no sunrise.

That is so well put isn't it. Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset. Eternity to the wicked is a night that has no sunrise.

Now look. The mere hope of living eternally is not enough. I mean everyone is going to live eternally.

A man is a living soul made in the image of God and we will all live on beyond this life if we believe in God or if we don't believe in God. I think the bigger question is where will we spend eternity. Now when we are a Christian we know that we will be in heaven.

If you are not a Christian the Bible says that you will be separated from Him initially in a place called Hades and a place of judgment and ultimately in hell or the lake of fire. So we want to spend all eternity with God I would presume. And this is the hope that we have.

Reminding us that I am passing through this life because I am a citizen of heaven. Listen. We all know this. Life is not fair. It is filled with inequities and injustice. Well sure there are times when good is rewarded and bad is punished. But far too often it is the very opposite of that. We see good people suffer. We see evil people succeed. But while it is true that life is not fair it is also true that God is good. He is also righteous and holy and He loves all of us.

And listen to this. One day in eternity God will right all wrongs. All those unanswered questions will be dealt with. The unfair things of life will be solved. Pain will be replaced by comfort. Tears will be replaced by joy and laughter.

Heaven is where losses are more than compensated for. This will give us a better perspective on the struggles of life. 2 Corinthians 4 and 17 says, "'Our present troubles are quite small, and they won't last very long.

Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever.' So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now. Rather we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see now will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever." You know we see things in a certain way. But that can change overnight.

That can change in a nanosecond when we enter into eternity. A classic example of this is the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Sometimes it is called a parable but I don't really think it was a parable at all. A parable was an illustration that Jesus would use.

But this I believe was a true story because names were used in it. Jesus told the story of a rich man. Had servants at his beck and call.

Had big parties every night of the week you know. He was just living the high life. And right outside of the gates of his estate was an impoverished man named Lazarus who literally would feed on the bread the rich man threw off of his table. So in earth we have this injustice. The sin of the rich man was not that he was rich.

The sin was that he lived only for his personal pleasures and had no place in his life for God. And meanwhile here is poor Lazarus and the worst state imaginable. Well they both die and pass into eternity. I am sure on earth they would have had a big memorial service that would have been on all the major channels for the rich man.

Meanwhile there maybe wasn't a service at all for Lazarus. But the Bible tells us that one went to a place of comfort and the other one went to a place of torment. So now on the other side everything is different. As Dinesh D'Souza said, heaven is the venue of cosmic justice. It is all going to be sorted out on the other side.

So here is the question. If you have suffered in life, or if you are suffering, how long will you need to be in heaven for the suffering you face in life to be made up for? Two months? Two weeks? Two hours?

Two minutes? As Randy Elkhorn said, quote, one paragraph into chapter one of the new earth will make up for 80 hard chapters on earth. End quote. Even if it took ten years it will be the beginning of eternal life where in God's presence there are pleasures forevermore. Heaven is the opportunity to develop and fulfill dreams bigger than anything on this earth. You see we must recognize that if you did not accomplish something on earth it can still be accomplished later.

Either in heaven or on the new earth when we rule and reign with Jesus Christ. And so this is important to realize because there are those that have very hard lives. There are those that have a life that is cut short.

I can't think of anything sadder than when a child dies or a young man or woman leaves us in what we would perceive to be before their time. Or when a person has to live through life with a severe disability. And it just seems like they lost out on life.

They got you know the short end of the stick if you will. Well granted they have lost and they have sacrificed and they have hurt. But God promises to compensate. God promises to make it up to them. Because you see there are going to be years ahead on the other side where they can realize their dreams and fulfill their potential. Because death for the believer is not the end of life but it is a continuation of it in another place.

Let me repeat that. Death for the believer is not the end of life but a continuation of it in another place. God has other times and places where our dreams and our hopes can be realized. We will be better off eternally because we suffered temporarily.

Now let me develop that a little bit. Think about this. I think of the here and now. God thinks of the by and by. I think of the temporal. God thinks of the eternal. I think about what will make me happy. God thinks about what will make me holy. He looks at the big picture.

Right. And so in this plan and purpose of God there may be things I have gone through in this life that make no sense to me now but when I get to heaven I realize I was a better person for it. I was made more into the image of Jesus Christ as a result of it.

It opened up a new ministry I would not have had because of it. Or there will be something about it that I will look back on and I will say now I understand why God allowed that to happen to me. So it will all be sorted out.

And I think that the argument for the greater good may be the strongest biblical case for why God allows suffering. But this takes faith. Because you see I can't see it right now.

I can only talk about it. I know it is there. The Bible promises that it is there. But now it is something I merely hope for. But yet my hope is built on a sure foundation. And what is that hope? It is the hope of heaven. Pastor Greg Laurie giving us clear insights from scripture on the bigger picture, the greater good.

It helps us see our earthly situation in better focus. Good encouragement today here on A New Beginning. Now as we have talked about our heavenly reward today, maybe you are not sure you are going to heaven.

Well you can be. Pastor Greg what would you say to the person listening who would like to make a change so they can know they have eternal life? I would say that God is just a prayer away. You know it doesn't take years to become a Christian. It doesn't take months. Frankly it doesn't even take hours.

It can happen so quickly. It just starts with you saying to God I know I am a sinner. I know that you love me. I know that you sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sin and pay for those sins and then to rise again from the dead and I want him to come into my life. So here is my question to you.

Have you done that yet? Because Jesus who did die on that cross and rose again from the dead three days later is alive and standing at the door of your life right now and he is knocking and he is saying if you will hear my voice and open the door I will come in. Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to know that when you die you will go to heaven?

Do you want Christ to come into your life right now? If so why don't you just stop whatever it is you are doing and pray this prayer with me. You can pray it out loud. You can pray it in the quietness of your own heart but pray this prayer to God. Say Lord Jesus I know that I am a sinner but I know that you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I am sorry for my sin and I turn from it now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. I ask all of this in Jesus name.

Amen. Listen if you just prayed that prayer the Bible promises that God has heard your prayer and has answered that prayer. The Bible says that we will confess our sin. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So God bless you. You have made the right decision. The decision to follow Jesus Christ.

Yeah that is right. As you begin to live this new life we want to send you something to help you get started off right. It is Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible. It is in an easy to understand translation plus hundreds and hundreds of study helps especially for those who are new to the faith.

It will answer the questions you may have. So get in touch for the New Believers Bible. We will send it free of charge. Just call us at 1-800-821-3300. That is 1-800-821-3300.

Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org and click Know God. And Pastor Greg we are so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. We are touching lives for eternity. And we are really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further.

Isn't that right? Absolutely. When you invest in Harvest Ministries you are investing in the souls of men and women, boys and girls. And what is the value of a soul?

Well let me personalize it. What is the value of your soul? What is the value of the soul of your husband, your wife, your son or your daughter? Or your mom or your dad?

Or your best friend? Well I would say you probably couldn't put a price tag on it. It is so valuable. Well listen God says all souls are mine.

God loves us and sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sins so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with Him. I can't think of a better investment of my resources, of my money, than in the work of the kingdom of God. So we would ask you to prayerfully consider investing in Harvest Ministries as we continue on to fulfill the Great Commission. Yeah that's right and you can make your donation right now at harvest.org or 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. You know Pastor Greg there's an old saying you know everybody complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it right? Well sometimes people complain about what's going on in Washington and on Tuesday we voters get our chance to speak.

Isn't that right? Yeah Dave you know it's really surprising to me how few Christians register and vote. And sometimes they'll say well you know we're not supposed to be of this world.

Oh please. We live in a country that was born in a time of spiritual awakening, the United States of America. I do believe that this is a country that God has blessed in so many ways and one of the primary reasons we're having so many problems today.

The unraveling of culture, the redefinition of the family and so much more is because we've turned away from God. So look the ultimate solution for America is a spiritual awakening. It's for men and women boys and girls to put their faith in Christ but there is a place for the political process. We live in representative government. We elect people that go to Washington to represent us.

So as we go to the ballot box and we vote I'm looking for candidates that have as close as I can find to what I would define as a biblical world view. I hope that you will do the same. Register. Vote. Let your voice be heard.

It really matters. If you haven't voted yet get out there and do it as quickly as possible. Well next time more insight from Pastor Greg on our hope of heaven. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Lord.