A New Beginning presents something for the New Year from Pastor Greg Laurie. We want to help you get stronger in your faith and discover what it really means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. To help you do that, we're offering a book called Discipleship, The Road Less Taken. I explore what the Bible says about discipleship and how we can grow in this area.
And we'll send this book to you for your gift of any size. Get your copy of Discipleship, The Road Less Taken at Harvest.org. God's the one that converts people, not us. But he chooses to involve us in the process. And so look for opportunities to share the gospel. It's one of the few things we can do today that makes a difference for eternity. Pastor Greg Laurie says share the news that saves lives. There are opportunities to share your faith before you each and every day, and we just need to tune in and pay attention.
Some people are just waiting for someone to literally pop the question. Think of your spiritual journey. Think back to when you heard about Jesus and came to know Him as your Savior. More than likely, at least one other person was involved in inviting you to come to Christ. What if they had been silent that day?
What if they were afraid of what you might say or what questions you might ask? Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the privilege and responsibility we all have to pass along the message that can bring people to Christ and can save them from their sins. I travel quite a bit, and when you're getting on a plane or you're walking through an airport, maybe you run into someone you know, you'll usually ask, so where are you headed? Oh, I'm going to Chicago. I'm going to New York. Oh, I'm going to Maui. Or I'm going to Kokomo, Bermuda, Bahama.
Come on, pretty mama. That's the lyrics of a song. But you know, you're going somewhere. And really, when you get down to it, there's no more important question to answer than where are you going? I'll come back to that in a few moments. But we called this series The Future is Written. And I want to answer the question, is Jesus coming back again?
The simple answer is yes. And Jesus himself said, I will come again. And I think we need to recognize the fact that we are closer to the return of Jesus in any generation that has ever existed.
Just think about that. We're closer. You can sense the nearness of his return.
So what should we do? That brings us to James 5. I'm going to read verses 7 to 11. Read with me, if you will. Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord's return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring.
They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to reap. You too must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. Don't grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged.
For look, the judge is standing at the door. For examples of patience and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him in the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.
We'll stop there. So what are the takeaway truths from this text? Number one, if you're taking notes, be patient. As we await the Lord's return, be patient. Look at what he says in verse 7. Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord's return. The word used here for patience is not speaking of a passive resignation, but rather a patient expectant waiting on the Lord.
And sometimes we can be very impatient because we live in a culture where you can get everything so quickly. Lord, why have you not returned yet? Christ will return at the appointed time. Just as he came at the appointed time in human history, the first time he will come the second.
The Bible says in the book of Galatians, when the time was just right, God sent forth the son born of a woman made under the law to redeem those that are under the law, that we might receive the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father. And when the time is just right, Christ will come again. But we've grown patient. Lord, are you looking at this crazy world we're living in?
Things are so dark, why don't you come back? Simple answer, he's waiting for more people to believe. Second Peter 3 9 says, the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. Instead he's patient with you, not wanting any to perish but wanting everyone to come to repentance.
So he's waiting for more to believe. I recently re-watched a film called Hacksaw Ridge and it's a true story of a man named Desmond Doss. Desmond Doss was a believer in Jesus Christ but he also felt he should not pick up a rifle and fight. He wanted instead to serve as a medic and when they were going through basic training, other soldiers mocked him and harassed him and even called him a coward. But then when they were deployed to a place called Hacksaw Ridge, fighting the forces of Japan, Desmond Doss displayed such amazing courage on the battlefield. So much so that he personally saved 75 men and was given the Medal of Honor by President Truman. There's a powerful scene in the film where where all of his platoon have left the spot where the battle is raging.
And Doss stayed up there crawling on the ground underneath enemy fire. And he is saying, one more Lord. Give me one more.
Then he would save a man and lower him down. Then he went for another. One more Lord. Give me one more. Then he would go find even another.
And on it went. That's how we should be when we think about people that don't know Jesus. We should be saying, one more Lord.
Give me one more. That's the attitude. You don't want to be in that final day saying, oh I should have shared the gospel with my family. I should have shared the gospel with my neighbors. Or I should have told others about Jesus.
Or I should have told others about Jesus. Number two, be aware of the afterlife. So as we await the Lord's return just be aware of the afterlife. Verse nine says, or you will be judged for look the judge is standing at the door. You see Christians are going to be judged.
Now let me explain. Non-believers are going to stand at something called the great white throne judgment mentioned in Revelation chapter 20. The small and the great stand there and the books plural are open and a book is open which is the book of life. If your name is not found written in the book of life you're cast into the lake of fire. That's not for Christians. That's for non-believers. I don't even think Christians will necessarily be present at the great white throne judgment. But then the Bible also says that Christians will be judged. But the judgment that Christians will face is not a judgment as to whether or not we get into heaven. As a matter of fact this particular judgment happens in heaven. I want you to think of it more as an awards ceremony.
Like the Oscars or the Emmys if you will. And by that I mean you're given rewards for your faithful service to the Lord. The Bible promises various crowns as we faithfully serve God. Jesus said your father who sees you in secret will one day reward you openly. So here's the basis of the judgment seat of Christ as it's called. 2nd Corinthians 5 10. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ and each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done whether it be good or bad. So this is about faithfulness. Sometimes we tend to think that the more you accomplish the more successful you are. But God is not looking at success as much as he's looking at faithfulness.
Listen. God won't hold me accountable to what he's called you to do. He won't hold you accountable to what he has called me to do. But he will hold each of us accountable to what he has called us to do as individuals. So my whole focus should be on faithfully doing what the Lord tells me to do.
And responding to the opportunities God sets before me. There are three things that Christian can give to God. Three things. Time.
Talent. And treasure. First there's your time. The Bible says redeem the time because the days are evil.
Or a better translation would be make sacred and wise use of every opportunity. God has given you time. Time is precious. Don't waste it.
Number two. You have your talent. God has given you certain abilities to do certain things well.
Dedicate that talent to the glory of God. Thirdly there's your treasure. That would be your finances. Invest them wisely.
And invest them also in the kingdom of God. So we'll be held accountable for what we've done with our lives and we'll stand at that judgment. Be aware of that. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.
Hey everyone. I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a harvest version of Netflix.
We have all of our resources in one place. We have our movies like Steve McQueen The Salvation of an American Icon, Johnny Cash The Redemption of an American Icon, A Rush of Hope, and much more. Then we have our television program, Daily Devotions, and much more.
So go and download the Harvest Plus app. Well Pastor Greg is offering some takeaway truths today as we await the Lord's return from our text found in James chapter 5. Let's continue.
Number three. Be courageous. Be courageous. Look at verse 8. Take courage for the coming of the Lord is near. The return of Christ should make us courageous. The New English Bible translates it this way.
Put iron into your soul. Another translation says be resolute. Be resolute. The same word by the way that's used to describe Jesus headed to the cross.
He resolutely set out for Jerusalem. So be resolute. Be courageous.
Number four. Be trusting. As I await the return of Jesus, be trusting. And think of the example of Job. Look at verse 11. For instance, you all know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him in the end. For the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy. Job is the oldest book in the Bible.
Did you know that? It was written even before the book of Genesis. And as the story begins, we find God in heaven talking about Job to a bunch of angels. And among those angels was Lucifer, also known as Satan. God's literally saying this about Job. Have you considered my servant Job a perfect and upright man, one that fears God and shuns evil? Satan retorts, let's paraphrase, give me a break. Job follows you just because you give him cool stuff. Because you bless him.
You let me have a little time attacking Job and we'll see what he's really made of. And then a series of calamities befell this man of God. He lost his livestock. He lost his children. He lost his health. And yet the Bible says he did not charge God foolishly, but instead said to the Lord, naked came I into this world, naked go I out, blessed be the name of the Lord. And then Job's wife says, why don't you just curse God and die? And Job probably thought, why didn't I lose you too? Seriously?
That's it. So when I read this story I think, Lord, if you're ever, even for a fleeting moment, feeling proud of me, please don't brag about me in front of the devil. Because that was a lot of hard things that came to Job. But he so patiently endured all of those things.
But there's another thing about Job that I love. He had hope in Christ before he even knew his name. Job believed in the resurrection of the body.
Job 19, 35, Job says, I know my Redeemer lives and after my body is decayed, yet in my body I will see God. He had this hope. And we can have that same hope.
So let's wrap this up with one final point. What are we to do as we await the Lord's return? Number one, be patient. Number two, be aware of the afterlife. Number three, be courageous. Number four, be trusting.
Remember the example of Job. And fifth and lastly, look for opportunities to share the gospel. Look for opportunities to share the gospel. Remember, we're going to give an account of the judgment seed of Christ for what we've done with our lives. Unlike patient farmers, we should be sowing the seeds of the gospel. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3, 6, I planted the seed in your hearts. And Apollos, that's another preacher, watered it. But it was God who made it grow. It's not important who does the planting or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose and both will be rewarded for their own hard work. I love that. So sometimes God calls you to sow a seed.
And what does that mean? Maybe it's a good deed. Maybe you hold a door open for someone. Thank you very much. You're welcome. God bless you. You know, maybe you tip generously and the server says thank you.
You're welcome. Jesus loves you. You know, you just let them know what you do is motivated by your faith. Just sowing a little seed. Sometimes you water a seed someone else has sown.
You engage a person in a conversation. You talk about what Christ has done for you, what he can do for that person. And then sometimes God will have you reap where others have sown and watered. God's the one that converts people, not us. But he chooses to involve us in the process. I remember I was in a restaurant a while ago with a few of our pastors and we're having lunch and the server comes and says, aren't you guys from a church here in town?
Yeah, we're from Harvest. Oh, that's great. What are your service times? And I told her our service times and we're talking a little bit. And it just suddenly occurred to me, I think this girl wants to accept Jesus Christ right now. I'm telling her, come to church on Sunday.
I'm thinking, why wait till Sunday? So I'm just talking with her. I said, let me ask you a question. And I don't normally do this, but I said, let me ask you a question.
Would you like to accept Christ into your life right now? She said, yes. And so our worship group is nearby. They came out and they started to play a little song. Someone wheeled a pulpit in front of me.
No, no, none of that happened. So I just prayed with a girl right then and there. Some people are just waiting for someone to literally pop the question. And you have to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit. I suggest to you that there are opportunities to share your faith before you each and every day. And we just need to tune in and pay attention. It's a good thing to go out witnessing.
I support that. But it's a better thing to just always recognize you should be a witness. And as the Bible says, be on duty at all times. Engage someone with the message of the gospel. How many of you are willing to follow up in this assignment? Raise your hand.
Not every hand's going up, but a lot are. And what this simply means is I'm going to look for an opportunity. So here's how it goes.
You praise it. Lord, I'm not comfortable doing this. I don't know if I'm going to have all the right answers, but I'm just going to say I'm available. Here I am, Lord.
Send me. Watch out. You're going to start seeing things. You're going to see those openings, those opportunities. They're all around you. The harvest is great. The opportunities are many.
You just need to tune in. And one of the great joys of life is sharing your faith. Let's do that. You know, not everybody is called to reach a lot of people. You may only reach a handful of people. That's all Noah reached. Basically his family. But he was called a preacher of righteousness.
Again, it's not about numbers. It's about faithfulness. And who knows that you will not reach one person who will in turn reach another person, who in turn will reach another person that could literally change the world.
And you could trace the spiritual heritage of that person right back to you and your willingness to leave your comfort zone and engage someone with the gospel. We want to be doing this with our time. But let me come back to a question I raised at the beginning of the message. Where are you going? Where are you going? We decide in this life where we will spend the afterlife. The Bible is very clear in this topic. According to the scripture in the afterlife, you will either go to heaven or you will go to hell. Well, there's purgatory. No, there's no purgatory. There's no stopovers on the way. It's a direct flight. Well, I'll work it out with the good Lord, the man upstairs at the judgment seat.
No, you do not want to do that. There are no chances after death. Thousands before, none after. The Bible says it's appointed unto a man to die once. Then comes the judgment. You want to have this figured out now. You don't just go down to the airport and board whatever flight you want to board and go. No, you have to get your ticket ahead of time. And then wait in long lines. And then wait for the flight to be delayed.
Then eat really awful food. I'm just describing airport experiences. No, but the truth is you decide ahead of time where you're going to go. And the same is true of our eternal destination. God wants you to join him for all eternity in heaven. And you will if you put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. But then there's the other destination, hell.
The last thing God wants is for any person made in his image to spend eternity separated from him in this place called hell. That's why he sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sin and pay for every wrong we have ever done and then to rise again from the dead. And Jesus Christ is alive and knocking at the door of our heart. And he is saying if we'll hear his voice and open the door he will come in. If you want to go to heaven you must have Christ living in your life.
Have you asked him in yet? If not, I'm going to give you an opportunity to do that right here right now as we close in prayer. Let's all pray. Father, speak to the heart of every person listening wherever they may be. If they do not know you yet let this be the moment your Holy Spirit convicts them of their sin and convinces them of their need for Jesus.
Help them to believe in you now, we pray. Listen, if you want Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you want to go to heaven when you die, I want you to pray this prayer with me right now. Just pray this simple prayer.
You can pray it out loud if you like. Pray, Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now.
I repent of it. I ask you to forgive me and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. In Jesus' name, I pray.
Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer with those making a change in their relationship with the Lord today. If you've just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and have meant the words you've just prayed, your sins have been forgiven and you're now a brand new child of God. And we'd like to help you get started in this brand new life of faith. Let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible. It's in an easy to understand translation with scores of special articles and helps to answer the questions new believers often have. We'll send it to you without charge. Just ask for the New Believers Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300.
You can call any time 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click on Know God. Now Pastor Greg will come back to close our program in just a moment or two, so stay with us. And then let us say a word of thanks to those who support us financially, those who make it possible for us to bring you these studies each day. We're definitely a listener supported ministry.
It's the generosity of listeners that help us be here with these programs. So if you've partnered with us, thank you. And if you have yet to partner with us, I hope you'll get in touch today and let us know that you're standing with us. Even a small investment would help.
It's actually an investment in changing lives. Thank you for partnering with us. You can donate securely online at harvest.org or write a new beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300.
Again, that's 1-800-821-3300. Well, next time we'll see why Israel and specifically the city of Jerusalem are ground zero for God's end times plan. But let's return to Pastor Greg now as he wraps up today's message with a word of prayer. Father, we pray that you will give us a passion and a concern to share our faith. We believe you're coming again.
We want to be watching, but we also want to be working. And we don't want to go to heaven alone. So Lord, we're saying to you right now, here we are Lord, send us.
Here I am, send me. Open up doors of opportunity for me to engage people with the gospel before this day is over. Help us to sow seeds. Help us to water seeds others have sown. And help us to reap where others have sown and watered. We commit it all to you now. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
