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. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Again you hear when the angels are singing. This is the day, the day when life begins. One of the most disheartening aspects of losing a loved one is the idea that we may never see them again.
It's almost more than we can bear. But today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out we will see our believing loved ones again. We haven't said goodbye forever. We've only said goodbye for right now. He's in the middle of an encouraging series of hopeful messages.
And you can get an instant replay of today's insight by going to our website at Harvest.org. What is hope when we use that word? What is it? Here is an acronym that may help you to understand hope. H-O-P-E. That is how to spell hope.
Right? H for holding. O for on with. P for patient.
E for expectation. Hope. Holding on with patient expectation. Now this applies to life in general. When you are facing a crisis. When you have a marriage that is unraveling.
When you have a child that has gone prodigal. You need to hope. Which means hold on with patient expectation. Which means that God is in control of your life.
He can work all things together for good. Don't forget there is a loving Father who has a watchful eye on you. But then as we look at life in general and we know that Christ could come back at any time we also hope. We hold on with patient expectation looking forward to that day.
And really what is this an expectation of? It is an expectation of heaven. Now in our last message we talked about what heaven actually is. Heaven is the dwelling place of God Himself. Heaven is a place.
Not a mere state of mind. Jesus said, I have gone to prepare a place for you. And remember that we discovered that heaven is described in Scripture as a country, a city, a garden, a paradise. Heaven is home.
That is really what it is. Heaven is home. Jesus said, I have gone to prepare a place for you. And in My Father's house are many mansions, are dwelling places. And where we are not so I would have told you. And because of this we have this homesickness for heaven.
The Bible says that God has placed eternity in our hearts. We are longing to be home again. You know as Dorothy said to Toto, there is no place like home. Right?
And isn't it true? You look forward to getting home. Because at home you are comfortable. At home you are with family.
At home you can be yourself. You probably have comfortable clothes you wear around your home that are not really fit for wearing in public. Right?
Sometimes in the morning if you go out to get your newspaper someone might be walking by and you are in those clothes and they look at you. Oh hi. Yeah.
Whoops. But home is a comfortable place. Home is a safe place. When you are playing baseball what is the objective? Well hopefully it is to get a home run.
Cross those bases and when you are coming around third place you are going to slide toward home. Right? And that is what we are all thinking about. Going to this place heaven that is really home. So let's deal with some of the most commonly asked questions when we come to the topic of heaven.
Number one. Will we know one another in heaven? I don't know why this question is asked so much. Because the implication of it is I am going to know less in heaven than I know on earth. Listen. When you get to heaven you are going to know more not less.
Here is the question. Do you recognize people on earth? Well I hope you do.
We don't always. Sometimes I will see someone and I do recognize them but I forgot their name. I will say, Hey.
How is it going? And they will start talking to me. Oh Greg.
And on they go. And I am hoping they will somehow use their own name in a sentence. So then I can sort of pick up there and not say. Because it is really embarrassing to say, I am really sorry but I forgot your name.
This is especially sad when it is your wife you are talking to because it happened to me yesterday. No it didn't really. But well yeah we sometimes recognize one another on earth but guaranteed we will recognize one another in heaven because there we know more not less. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13 we will know as we are known. Now we see through a glass sort of like a tinted window. You can't really make it out. But then everything is crystal clear.
It is like going from the worst signal imaginable to 3D HD. You know everything is very easy to make out. All these things will be resolved. We will know one another. You know scientists tell us that we use about 5 percent of our brain capacity on earth.
I wonder if some people even use the whole 5 percent. But in heaven presumably we will get that other 95 percent back and probably a lot more as well. We will know more in heaven than we know on earth but the desire to sin will be gone. And we will recognize one another and we will still love one another. You will still love your family. You will still love your friends. But it will be a stronger, sweeter, purer love.
Listen. There is no more a break in your love than there is a break in your thoughts. Death breaks ties on earth but it renews them in heaven. Because heaven is the perfecting of the highest moments of the present Christian experience. But you know when you have a loved one in heaven you wonder a lot about what they know. They know what we know.
But what do they know? Is heaven completely oblivious to what is happening on planet earth? Or do they have ringside seats and are they watching everything that happens to us with bated breath?
Well I think both of those ideas are not correct. I don't think heaven is oblivious. Nor do I think they are necessarily watching our every movement. But I do believe that people in heaven are very aware of many things that are happening on earth. Let me give you three scriptural illustrations to make my point. And I bring this up because sometimes people will say, well you know when you get to heaven you won't care about what happened on earth.
You won't remember anything about earth. All those things have passed away. And you will just be preoccupied with worshiping the Lord. Well I don't know that that is really true because of the verses I am going to share with you now.
One. People in eternity are aware of the fact that loved ones are not saved. Again people in eternity are aware of the fact that loved ones are not saved. You may recall in our last message on heaven we looked at Luke chapter 16 which is the story of the godly Lazarus and the wicked rich man. They both passed into eternity. The rich man went to a place of torment and Lazarus went to a place of comfort. And the rich man in eternity on the other side in torment said in Luke 16 28, I have five brothers and I want to warn them about this place of torment so they won't have to come here when they die. That would indicate that there is a knowledge in eternity about what is happening on earth. This man at least in the torment part of Hades was aware of his life on earth still.
Number two. When people believe in Jesus on earth it is public knowledge in heaven. When people believe in Jesus on earth it is public knowledge in heaven. In Luke 15 Jesus told three parables all dealing with lost things. One was a shepherd that lost a sheep. The other was a woman that lost a coin and finally a father that lost a son. In the case of the shepherd we read that one sheep went astray.
He left the 99 and searched until he found it and wrapping around his shoulders he returned rejoicing and he said, Rejoice I found my lost sheep. And Jesus then says, and I tell you in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents and over 99 righteous persons who don't need to repent. So that means that when a person believes on earth it is a big deal in heaven.
So here is my question. If it is a big deal in heaven shouldn't it also be a big deal on earth? You know when we invite people to Christ and sometimes more people will come than other times. You know sometimes maybe the whole front of the stage is filled with people.
There have been times we have had them going up the aisles and up the sides. And of course we have been to crusades and we have seen thousands of people come forward. If you become jaded to that sort of thing something is wrong with you spiritually. Your heart should leap every time someone comes to faith. But there might be another time when we invite people to Christ maybe only a handful will respond and will say, Oh it didn't go that well today. You know.
Wait a second. If that person, if one of the eight people that came forward was your mother or your husband or your child I think it would be a real big deal to you. It is a big deal to God and it should be a big deal to us. Heaven rejoices when people come to faith. Then Jesus talks about a woman who lost a coin. Now that may not seem significant to us but back in those days instead of a wedding ring a woman would wear a wedding band. Like a headband. And in the headband there would be these coins.
So to lose a coin from your headband was the equivalent of losing your wedding ring. So needless to say she searched until she found it and then drawing from that Jesus said, likewise I say there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner who repents. And then Jesus goes on to tell the story of the prodigal sons and how there is that joy in heaven. But I want you to notice that Jesus says there is joy in the presence of the angels. It doesn't say that there is joy among the angels. Now I am not saying that I don't think angels rejoice when people come to Christ.
They probably do. But He didn't say there is joy among the angels. He said there is joy in the presence of the angels which would make me wonder if that joy is not experienced by those who are in heaven. Wait. I know more in heaven than I know on earth.
Right? So if a party breaks out in heaven don't you think I will know about it? Don't you think I would want to join in the festivities? Have you ever been in a room next door to a party happening? A number of years ago we did a crusade in San Jose and we did our first night and went to our hotel and I was trying to go to sleep and all of a sudden I heard music in the next room. But this was really loud music. It was like thump, thump, thump, thump of the bass you know. And I thought, I have never heard music so loud coming from a room. I put my hand up to the wall. You could feel the wall vibrating. So I called security. I said, I don't know what is going on in this room next to me. But you guys have got to come up here.
I can't sleep. And so they go and they check and the next thing I know they evicted the people. Apparently it was a bachelor party and they had hired two DJs with full blown sound systems. So as they are taking the people out of the room I am watching through my little peephole you know. Wearing my comfortable clothes.
Right? And I see them carrying out speakers and lighting equipment. I went, what is going on? I knew when a party was going on next door. So when I am in heaven and a party breaks out since I know more in heaven than I know on earth would I not be aware of that?
And listen. What if I played a part in that conversion? I mean maybe it was a seed I sowed years ago. Now I am in heaven and I am seeing that seed breaking ground. Maybe it is my son, my daughter, my grandchild.
Maybe it is my great-grandchild depending on how long I have been there. But I say, Oh Lord you let me play a part of that and I rejoice. There is joy in the presence of the angels. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. It is so encouraging when we hear that listeners are growing by hearing these studies. Pastor Greg I believe that your mission and message are divinely inspired. You share Bible based relatable sermons that are clear and show the power of God s love for us. I appreciate how your podcasts and sermons are down to earth, funny and thoughtfully presented. And yet you share how spiritual battles are real.
But victory is ours through Jesus Christ who is the real deal. We re so blessed to hear comments like this. Has Pastor Greg heard from you? Why not call him and share your story? Just call 1-866-871-1144.
That s 866-871-1144. Well we re learning some fascinating things about heaven today. Pastor Greg has just pointed out heaven s awareness of what s going on on earth because we read there is joy in the presence of the angels when a soul is saved. Then another illustration that really shows there is an awareness of heaven and what is happening on earth is found in Revelation 6 9-11 where we read these words.
And we will get to this later when we study Revelation. He says, He opened the fifth seal I saw under the altar of the souls of those that have been slain for the word of the Lord, for the testimony which they held. They cried with a loud voice, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood and those that dwell on the earth?
And a white robe was given to each of them, and it was said that they should rest a little while longer. These believers are ones that have been martyred for their faith in the tribulation period and have gone to heaven. I want you to notice that though they are in heaven they have a keen interest in what is still happening on earth. For instance they knew they were killed for following Jesus Christ. And this shows the direct continuity between our identity on earth and heaven. They are not different people. They are the same people relocated. These martyrs are fully conscious, rational, and aware of each other.
And they know they have been killed and they want justice. This is important. Because I have heard it said, Well we just almost become a different person in heaven. No I am sorry. I am still me. But I am a perfect version of me.
The radically upgraded Greg. You see. The glorified You without flaw. Without sin.
Without shortcomings. In a new body yes. But with a connection to your old body that I will talk about in a few moments.
Now some people will say, No wait. They couldn't be aware of what is happening on earth because in heaven it tells us that there is no sorrow nor crying. Revelation 21 for the former things that passed away. Yeah but that doesn't mean we have had a collective lobotomy. That doesn't mean that there has been a brain white.
Like in Men in Black. Remember the little device and they erase your memory. You are still you. You know more than you knew on earth. And you do remember things. And these people.
These tribulation martyrs were fully aware of what was happening. You say, Well then how can you be aware of something said happening on earth and still enjoy heaven? Answer.
You have perspective. It makes all the difference. You know remember when you were a kid and something traumatic happened and you thought it was the end of your world. The other day one of my granddaughters had the head of her Barbie doll come off. This is a big deal. I tried to fix it. I couldn't get the head back on again. And I said, It will be ok.
It will be ok. Because I knew that I am going to go buy her another Barbie doll or a Disney princess or whatever it is that is going to make them happy and maybe I will throw in a little extra thing and the new one will come with a horse or a pink telephone. Who knows. But you know I know it is going to be better. I remember when I was a kid in elementary school I got in a fight. Well let me restate that. I got beaten up. It wasn't really a fight. There was this bully that chose me off.
Remember that. And I really didn't want to fight this guy because I knew he would win. But he was insistent. And so I tried to talk him out of it on the way as we rode on the bus to the stop and we actually were joking and laughing.
I thought everything was cool. And so we got off the bus and he literally started hitting me on the back of the head. So I am on the ground facing the dirt. He is pounding my head in and everyone is yelling, Make Lori eat dirt.
Make Lori eat dirt. I still remember this. Right after it happened I felt like my world had ended. I mean I had nightmares about it. I was humiliated.
No you know what. I look back on that now with no pain. In fact it is kind of a funny story to me. But in the time it was happening it wasn't funny at all.
Why? Because I am older now and I have perspective. And I am not suggesting that what you may be going through right now is not painful or hard. But when you are looking at it from the perspective of heaven in a glorified state seeing things as God sees them you will be able to see it in a much more objective and spiritual way. Thus these believers in heaven though they have been martyred are aware but they see it with that proper perspective.
But at the same time they are wanting a wrong to be righted. And thirdly they were aware of the passing of time. They say, "'How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood among those that dwell in the earth.'" So when it is said, well in heaven we won't be aware of time, well these tribulation martyrs were aware of time.
So interesting things to think about. Another thing about heaven is we are going to receive a glorified body. Isn't that great to know? Now the question is sometimes asked when you get to heaven do you get that glorified body?
And I think the answer is no. I think you get the glorified body at the resurrection. And the resurrection that we will read about in a moment is at the rapture of the church. And we will read about it when it says that the dead in Christ rise first and we which are alive and remain are caught up together with them in the clouds. And then we meet the Lord. That is when mortality puts on immortality and corruption and incorruption. So when a Christian dies and goes to heaven they are in some kind of a body. I am not quite sure.
Maybe an intermediate state. But the glorified body, i.e. the upgraded perfected version of the body they are in now happens then.
So we are going to receive this new body one day. And that is great to know because you know you see the telltale signs of age kicking in. And you know you realize that you don't remember the things you used to remember and you can't do the things you used to do. You know you are getting old when your spouse goes out and you don't care where they go. As long as you don't have to go.
Right. You know you are getting old when happy hour is a nap. You know you are getting old when you start every sentence with the word nowadays.
Oh you know I know you have it but nowadays things are different. When I was a kid a lot of that goes on. You know you are getting old when you confuse a clear conscience with a bad memory. You know you are getting old when your idea of weightlifting is standing up. You know you are getting old when someone compliments your new alligator shoes. And you are not wearing any. You know you are getting old when your knees buckle and your belt won't.
You know you are getting old when your teeth in you don't sleep together anymore. And when it takes twice as long to look half as good. Right. But we are going to get that radically upgraded body. Our bodies will no longer age or get sickness or break down. We are told over in 1 Corinthians 15, our earthly bodies which die and decay will be different when they are resurrected for they will never die. Our bodies disappoint us now. But when they are raised they will be full of glory.
They are weak now but when they are raised they will be full of power. And we are eager for that day aren't we? Pastor Greg Laurie is giving us some great insight on what is waiting for us on the other side. And there is more to come in this message here on A New Beginning. Are you looking forward to heaven? Maybe you are not sure that is where you are headed. Well Pastor Greg what would you say to the person listening who just doesn't know if they really are a Christian. They can't think of a time when they made a deliberate decision for the Lord. It is just not a good idea to assume everything is just going to work out okay is it?
No this is one area of your life you want to be sure about. Where you are going to spend eternity. The Bible says these things we write to you that you may believe on the Son of God and that you may know that you have eternal life. Listen I know I have eternal life. I know I will go to heaven one day. And I hope that doesn't sound boastful and if it does I am boasting on what God has done for me not on what I have done for God.
The reason I know these things is because I have turned from my sin and I have put my faith in Christ you see. And if you do the same you can have the same hope. You just need to call out to the Lord an adventurous sinner and ask Jesus Christ to forgive you and come into your life. The Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Will you call upon him right now? I am going to pray a simple prayer and I am going to ask you to pray this prayer after me if you would. So if you want to know that you will go to heaven when you die if you want to know for certain that Christ is living in your life then pray this prayer with me.
Just pray these words. Lord Jesus I know I am a sinner but I know you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin. I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and my Lord as my God and my friend. Thank you for hearing this prayer.
Thank you for answering this prayer and I ask this in Jesus name Amen. And listen if you have just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and you have meant those words sincerely the Lord has forgiven your sin and you are now a Christian. And we want to help you get started in this new life of faith. Let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible. It is in an easy to understand translation and there are scores of features to help a new believer build a solid foundation. So get in touch and ask for the New Believers Bible. We will send it free of charge.
Just call us at 1-800-821-3300. You can call any time 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. You know Pastor Greg we hear from people all the time who tell us how these daily studies have impacted their lives. So many have found the Lord and been encouraged through this teaching. That's right. And we hope our listeners might pray about making an investment so these studies can continue.
Yeah it's really true Dave. You know and even a little bit helps. You know people need to hear the Gospel so badly. They need to hear the teaching of the Word of God. It changes everything because it changes us. And I'm so passionate about it and I'm called to do it and I'm thankful for it.
But I can't do it alone. So I'm going to ask folks that are listening if you think more people need to hear the Gospel. If you believe more people need to hear the teaching of the Word of God then perfectly consider investing in Harvest Ministries and maybe even become a Harvest Partner. Which means you're someone who stands with us every month in your faithful giving and that opens up a lot of new opportunities for us. So thanks for that.
Yeah that's right and we really are thankful for your partnership. You can reach us anytime day or night at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or just go online to Harvest.org. Next time, more fascinating insights about what lies just beyond Heaven's gates. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie.
