Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here. Let me ask you a question. Are you eager to make a difference in the spiritual lives of others? When you give to Harvest, you become a part of our mission to make God known through unique avenues like television, radio, and large-scale evangelistic events.
Support us today at harvest.org slash donate and help us to continue to spread the gospel around the world. Jesus said, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Coming up today, Pastor Greg Laurie says there's never been a more strategic time to take a stand for our faith in Christ.
We live in a world that seems to be getting darker and darker, don't you think? And so we need to be shining more brightly. And through our good works, people should see we're Christians before we tell them. The Bible calls believers ambassadors for Christ.
We're public representatives. But when others find out that we're believers, do they say, oh yeah, I thought so? Or do they say, really?
You could have fooled me. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out how important it is to display the love of God to those around us and how we need to do all we can while we can. It's practical instruction from the series called The Future is Written. So in this series we've talked about the rapture. We've talked about Israel. We've talked about why Bible prophecy matters and why we should indeed study it and to the best of our ability understand it. Now we're going to focus specifically on what Jesus says we should be doing as we await His return. That brings us to Luke chapter 12, starting in verse 36. Jesus says, be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let Him in the moment He arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready and waiting for His return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, He Himself will seat them and put on an apron and serve them as they sit and eat. He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn, but whenever He comes, He will reward the servants who are ready. Understand this, Jesus says, if a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. You must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.
So we'll stop there. So the analogy that Jesus is using is very familiar with His Jewish listeners. He's talking about a wedding, a classic first century Jewish wedding. Now weddings are very different today from those days. Weddings are very expensive. I just read about a wedding that took place in India at the cost of $300 million. Wow, I think I spent $100 on our wedding. We didn't spend a lot on our wedding, but we focused on our marriage and 50 years later we're going strong.
So we're thankful to God. But back in these days, the days of Jewish weddings, it was very different. Because a Hebrew wedding would last not just hours, but it could actually last for days. It was an extended time of celebration and fun.
And there was one unique feature about these weddings, and it is simply this. You did not know when the groom was coming. So he might come in the morning. He might come in the afternoon. He might come in the evening. But when he was coming, a shout would be given out. The bridegroom is coming, and if you weren't ready, you would miss the wedding.
Snooze and you lose. So Jesus uses this backdrop, this illustration, to talk about how we should be living as we wait for our bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ, to return. Bringing me to point number one. If you're taking notes, we should be shining lights in a dark place. We should be shining lights in a dark place. Look at verse 35.
Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning. The New King James Version translates it, let your waste be girded and your lamps burning. So what does it mean to have your waste girded?
That's not verbiage we use today. Well, they weren't robes back in those days. So to gird your waste simply meant that you cinched up your robe. Everyone would have a belt around a robe, and you would keep things on your belt like an oil flask, a little extra oil, et cetera.
So you would sort of cinch up your robe, giving you freedom of movement. To have your lamps burning meant you had sufficient oil in them. So if we were to update it for today, we would say have fresh batteries in your flashlight. Or we might say have your cell phone charged, right?
That's the idea. Live in a state of readiness. But to have your light shine. You know, we live in a world that seems to be getting darker and darker, don't you think? And so we need to be shining more brightly. And as Christians, we need to be known more for what we are for than what we are against. And through our good works and our loving actions, people should see we're Christians before we tell them. Jesus said, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. So in effect, you look for ways to earn the right, so to speak, to then share your faith. The problem is sometimes we're talking about Jesus, but we're not living it.
That does not help. But then there are others that live it beautifully, but they never talk about it. We have to find the balance of doing both at the same time. And notice that Jesus says in verse 38, He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn, but whenever He comes, He will reward the servants who are ready. So what Jesus is saying is, hey, even if He comes later than you were expecting, be ready. You see a story in Matthew 14 when Jesus told the disciples to get in the boat and cross over Galilee. And He went up to a mountaintop to pray for them.
And as they're out there in that storm, it got worse and worse so bad, in fact, that they were despairing of life. And they're wondering, where's Jesus? Now He was praying for them. He could see them. They could not see Him. But He was interceding for them at that moment because the Lord's always looking after us and watching for us.
And He is even interceding for us as well. And then Matthew's gospel tells us He came in the fourth watch of the night. So back in these days, the night would be divided into four sections.
The fourth watch was the time just before dawn, meaning that they may have been struggling in that storm for nine hours. And what happens next? Here comes Jesus walking on the water toward them. And that's how it may feel for some of us right now.
It's like, Lord, why have you not come back? Are you paying attention to what's going on in the world? Oh, yes, He's paying attention. He's aware of everything that is happening. Things are not falling apart.
They're falling into place. This is all sorted out by the Lord ahead of time. Reminds you also of the story of Lazarus. Lazarus was a good friend of Jesus along with his sisters Mary and Martha.
Jesus spent time in their home. So when he got very ill, they sent a message to Christ, Lord, the one that you love is sick. And they thought Jesus would probably drop what He was doing and rush back to Bethany and lay His hand on Lazarus and heal him. Or at least speak the word so Lazarus would be healed. But instead we read in John 11 five when Jesus heard this because He loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, He stayed where He was for the next two days. And then He says to His disciples, let's go back to Judea. So why did He wait?
He waited because He loved them. See, they wanted a healing. Jesus wanted a resurrection. And when He showed up in Bethany, Lazarus was dead. So dead, in fact, that Martha, his sister said, Lord, by now He stinketh. That is King James 4. He is in the process of decomposition. By the way, if someone doesn't smell good, you can use that King James verbiage. You know, you stinketh right now.
Okay. Lord, not only did He die, not only did you miss your opportunity, but He is decomposing. She was accusing Jesus of failing. And Jesus said, your brother will rise again.
And she says, yes, Lord, I know. And the last day He will rise. He says, no, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though He were dead, yet shall He live.
And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Then He said these words, Lazarus, come forth. It is a good thing He said Lazarus, come forth. If He just said, come forth, everybody in every grave would have come out at once. Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus comes alive out of the tomb. They wanted a healing.
He wanted a resurrection. God is able to do abundantly above and beyond that which you could ask or think. Sometimes I say, Lord, I need you to do this for me right now. The Lord may say, yes, I will do that. And other times He may say, no, I am going to wait a little longer and it is going to get a little more difficult and it might even seem a little darker, but I am going to come through for you. And when I come through for you, it will be in such a way you will know it is me. Right? So it is just a reminder to us as we are waiting that we are to be bright lights in a dark place.
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 pointing to Jesus' counsel today on how we should be living as we await the Lord's return. Let's continue. Number two, we are to be watching for Him. Now what does this mean that we all should just stand outside and stare at the sun all day?
No, not at all. Though the Bible does say for those that watch for Him, you will return a second time. What it means when the Bible says to be watching for Him, it is simply saying that you should be paying attention to what is happening in your world. You open up a newspaper. If you actually read a newspaper most people don't anymore. Or you go to your favorite news site. Or you see the news online. You pay attention because signs of the times are happening around us reminding us that Christ is coming.
But I should be watching for Him. Thirdly I need to be ready to go. I need to be ready to go. So when I take a trip I pack my bags ahead of time. I try to go carry-on nowadays. I rarely check suitcases because they lose suitcases don't they? So I schlep around an overpacked carry-on bag on wheels. So heavy in fact I wonder if I am going to get it in the overhead.
But I always do because of my massive physique. And so you know I drag it around with me but I am ready to go. I have my bag packed ahead of time.
And that is how we should be as Christians. Have your bags packed. Have your comfortable shoes on. And maybe ask yourself this question before you do something. Before you go somewhere. This place that I am about to go. This thing that I am about to do. Would I be ashamed or embarrassed to be doing such a thing if Jesus were to come back? That is the idea. Is this something that I would not want to be doing if Christ were coming back again?
So it should affect me in the way that I live. And number four I should not only be ready but I should be anxiously awaiting His return. Look at verse 36. When He comes and knocks they open to Him immediately. I used to have a dog that would sleep outside of my room. And so much so that when He would scratch it would sound like someone was knocking on the door.
It woke me up more than once. But when I would open the door of my room up He would fall into my room and He was so excited I was awake. And He starts running around in circles because I am going to go take Him on a walk. And He is going to go do His business.
So He was excited. And that is how we should be. We should be excited that Christ is coming. It is a joyful thing to await the return of the Lord. It would be like having a loved one. Maybe they are serving in the armed forces and they are going to be on leave and they are going to come home maybe tomorrow and you haven't seen them for months. You are so excited to see them again.
You can't wait to throw your arms around them and tell them you love them. And that is how we should be looking at Jesus' return. Lord I can't wait until You come again. I pray it soon. Like the apostle John who said, come quickly Lord Jesus.
Number five. We should not only be anxiously waiting but we should also be working. Let me say that again. We should not only be anxiously waiting we should be working. Look at verse 43. Blessed is that servant whom the master will find so doing when he comes.
Underline those two words. So doing. The Bible tells us that faith without works is dead. If watching for the Lord's return helps us prepare our own lives working will assure we bring others with us. So Jesus it says, blessed is the man whom the Lord finds so doing. The word blessed is interchangeable as you know with the word happy.
Happy is the person who is busy doing the things of the Lord as they await the return of the Lord. This is part of our DNA at Harvest. If you are new to this church I want you to know a little something about us. We take the Great Commission seriously here. Right.
You say I don't even know what that means. The Great Commission. The Great Commission is when Jesus tells us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all nations and to make disciples of all nations. Teaching them to observe all things that He has commanded us. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
And here is what Romans 10 says. How can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? How can they believe in Him if they have not heard about Him? How can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?
And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? This is why the scripture says how beautiful are the feet of the messengers who bring good news. You know we don't normally notice a person's feet do we? We might notice their eyes or their hair or their lack of hair. I don't know. Or their really bad hair piece.
I am not sure. But you don't normally say wow you have beautiful feet. We usually keep our feet covered up.
But the Bible says you can have beautiful feet. And a better way to translate that would be in full bloom. So it is sort of a picture of blooming like a flower when you are sharing the gospel. There is something life giving. Something wonderful. Something energizing about sharing your faith.
Isn't it interesting? See as you give out you are replenished. I think so often we take in. We want to learn more. We want to absorb more.
And that is very good. We should want that as Christians. But the way that God has designed all of this to work is you take in to give out. He wants you to be a vessel. He doesn't want you to be a hoarder. He wants you to share what you have been given. And the fact of the matter is that there is something very life giving and replenishing and reviving for you spiritually when you share your faith.
And when you don't share your faith stagnation can set into your life. I told you this story before about my son Jonathan. He has two rats. They didn't set out to have rats as pets but they have a snake. And if you have a snake it eats rats or mice. And so they went and bought what is called a feeder rat. That is an inexpensive rat that you buy to feed the snake. But this particular rat had no fear of the snake. Normally when a rat is put into the cage of a snake the cow are in fear and the snake sees it and they strike and constrict the rat and eat it.
Right. And so in this case this rat walked right up to the snake walking around the snake walking on top of the snake. And so Allie my granddaughter saw this was happening and she wanted to spare the rat's life. And so she got the rat out of the cage and set up his own cage and they named him Louie. And he turned out to be the best pet of all time. In fact they ended up getting rid of this snake but they kept Louie the rat. And they liked Louie so much they said let's get another rat. So they went and found I don't know what you would call it a designer rat. A little fancier.
Cost a little bit more money. Had his own pedigree. They named him Remy. But the funny thing is Louie was a better rat than Remy. And I almost wonder is it because Louie knew that his life was saved from a snake.
And he was just happy to be alive. Meanwhile Remy is like yeah I am cool. I am a designer rat. I have got papers right over there. You know I don't have to be as friendly as a stupid feeder rat.
You know I can be more aloof. And it reminds me of some Christians. When God has forgiven you of your sin you are so thankful. You are so grateful. And you want to go out and tell others about what He has done for you. Jesus said to whom much has been forgiven.
That one loves them much more. But sometimes after we have known the Lord we become complacent. We become apathetic.
We can't remember the last time we have engaged someone in a conversation about the gospel. Don't be like that designer rat. Be like the feeder rat.
I know that is a bad analogy but you understand what I am trying to say right? We have a choice. We can evangelize or we can fossilize. Pastor Greg Laurie with insights on what we should be doing as we wait for Jesus' return.
And there is more to come from this study here on A New Beginning. Pastor Greg mentioned evangelizing. You know that is part of our DNA here at Harvest Ministries and A New Beginning. We give an opportunity every day for people to put their faith in Christ so they can be ready for His return. Pastor Greg what would you say to the person listening right now who just doesn't know where they stand with the Lord? They can't think of a time when they made a deliberate decision for Jesus. 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.
Amen. And listen if you have just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and you've 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 living this new life of faith. So let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible.
It's in an easy to understand translation and there are scores of features to help a new believer build a solid foundation of faith. So get in touch and ask for the New Believers Bible. We will send it free of charge. Just call 1-800-821-3300. You can call anytime.
Again that's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click on Know God. And then thank you for partnering with us to help these daily studies continue.
Your investments have eternal benefits. Why not make this a part of your personal ministry to partner in an effort that's making a real difference with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayers and for prayerfully considering how God might lead you to help tangibly. Online you'll find us at harvest.org. And there you'll see the way we'd like to thank you for your donation right now.
That's harvest.org. Or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300. We're here around the clock to take your call. Again at 1-800-821-3300. Well next time Pastor Greg points out that the whole purpose for a study of the end times is to get us moving, to help mobilize us to draw closer to the Lord ourselves, and to bring others to the Lord as well. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie.
