Ready or Not, Here I Come!

all right well Matthew 24 is our text today and the title of my message is ready or not here I come you know when I turn on the news I'm shocked by the things that are happening in our world today in some ways it seems like the world is on fire and by the way I'm not talking about global warming or climate change I'm talking about the massive eruption of Islamic terrorism groups like Isis Boko harem al Qaeda Hezbollah and others are on the march we have not seen anything like this in modern times I wouldn't say we've never seen anything like this because there is a pattern to this that we'll talk about in the future message but in modern times this is unprecedented Christians being crucified and beheaded children being raped and slaughtered it's become so commonplace I don't even know for shocked by it any more Isis continues to grow and power in influence and taking new territories most recently Fallujah which is only an hour's drive from Baghdad and that's a big deal because there was a six-week battle over Felucia and a hundred American soldiers lost their lives and 600 others were injured it's a big thing that this piece of territory has been taken meanwhile over on Iran they're working on developing their nuclear weapon they're not gonna honor any agreement they make with us or anybody else I predict we'll see if I'm right or wrong on that and then we have their clear declaration as to who they think their enemies are they call them Satan and the Great Satan and the little Satan in other words America and Israel in addition to this we have Russia on the move again taking territory with no real opposition then there's North Korea who are several saber-rattling as well developing nukes and saying they want to use them against the United States now in the midst of all of this ironically relations between America and the nation Israel our longtime ally have never been more strained and that leaves Israel more alone to face her enemies who she is surrounded by America once the world's policeman has stepped back from that global position we are in a state of military and economic decline that's not even to mention our moral and spiritual decline and unless we change our course quickly in this country this is only going to accelerate without America's bold influence it brings massive instability globally and guess what this all plays in to the last days scenario predicted in Scripture because the Bible actually says in 2nd Timothy 3:1 in the last days perilous times will come as another translation puts it in the last days there will be terrible times Luke 21:25 Jesus says there'll be distress of nations with no way out now this is kind of a no-brainer but think about this we have never been closer to the return of Jesus Christ than we are at this moment right now you know it seemed that for a time a number of months would go by and there'd be an eruption somewhere a conflict somewhere something need to happen in the Middle East or some other development that would say to us wow that sounds like a fulfillment of Bible prophecy but then it would be weekly and sometimes at this point it seems daily but here's what you need to know everything is going according to plan that is God's plan none of this escapes his attention he's laid it out in Scripture now we're in a series that we're calling God came near which is a chronological look at the life of Christ from all four Gospels and that brings us to Matthew chapter 24 that is alluded to this particular message also known as the Olivet discourse in the other Gospels as well mark and Luke at least and the Olivet discourse which is what this message of Jesus is called is probably the greatest endtime prophecy in the entire Bible I was being interviewed recently for a magazine and they were doing a cover story on the topic of Bible prophecy and I was asked the question why study Bible prophecy and my answer was well in the book of Revelation a special blessing is promised to the person who studies understands and takes to heart what the Bible says about the future revelation 1:3 says blessed or happy is the man who reads the words of this prophecy blessed are these who are those who hear it and take it to heart because the time is near and that's not only true of Revelation it's true of the study of prophecy in general if we really study Bible prophecy as we ought to it will motivate us to want to live a more godly life because we're told over in 1st John 3 we know that when he comes we will see him as he is and all will believe this will purify themselves even as he is pure it sounded like when you were a kid and you were naughty and your mother said wait until your father gets home the arrival of your father was a motivation for right conduct because you didn't want to get in trouble with dad and in the same way when we know Christ could come back at any moment it motivates us to want to live godly lives and also I would add if we really understand Bible prophecy as we ought to it should motivate us to want to see others come to Christ because second Peter 3 14 says so dear friends while you are waiting for these things to happen make every effort to live a pure and blameless life and be at peace with God and remember the Lord is waiting so that people have time to be saved so here we are now in Matthew 24 and again as I said I call this message ready or not here I come now you probably all remember when you were kids playing hide and seek right my grandkids love to play this with me especially my two youngest little Allie and Christopher Christopher's - Allie is for the problem is when they hide they go back to the same hiding places over and over again but I play along and act like I don't know but they come to me and they say Papa be the monster or the way they say be monster so my mindset Papa start to walk around like I'm trying to get them but there's a fine balance because if I get too close they get really scared so I have to keep a safe distance as the monster so as to not alarm them so I'll chase them around then I'll I'll give them a little time to get ahead of me and and tell them to keep looking for it because they'll look back and run into things and so I don't want to injure these children as I play monster and then you know the idea is to hide from me and the monsters going to find them but it's just a game but listen one day ready or not Jesus is coming no not the monster but the Messiah and he's real and one day he will come to judge the world but first he will come for his church and I want you to answer this question right now are you confident at this moment that if Christ were to come you would be ready to meet him if you raise your hand okay well that's most of you but I wonder if there some of you who even raise your hand or someone who maybe did not who would have a little apprehension they're like well I think I am I'm really not sure I'm gonna tell you how to be ready for the Lord's return Matthew 24 gives us the signs of the times to be looking for it to alert us to his coming it's significant to note that these words were given by Christ himself in response to the question what will be the sign of your coming in other words if disciples are asking when will we know it's close to the time of your return how will we know we're living in the last days and what respond what follows is a specific response of Jesus and listen you have no more authority source on this subject that God Himself God in human form Christ Himself is giving us these words and by the way this is the longest answer Jesus came to any question in the New Testament so this is rather lengthy what he says he goes into great detail so let's see what Jesus says now about the end of the age Matthew 24 starting to verse 3 now what does he sound on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to him privately saying tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age jesus answered and said take heed that no one deceives you many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and they'll deceive many and you hear of wars and rumors of wars but see that you're not troubled for all these things must come to pass but the end is not yet for a nation will rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom there'll be famines pestilences and earthquakes in various places these are the beginning of Sorrows they'll deliver you up to tribulation and kill you and you'll be hated by all nations for my name's sake and many will be offended and will betray one another and hate one another and then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many and because long this shall abound the love of many will grow cold but he who endures to the end will be saved and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations and then will the end come therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel and the prophet standing in the Holy Place whoever reads let him understand let's stop there look at verse 15 whoever reads let him understand sometimes people will say it's too hard to understand Bible prophecy I beg to differ God's desire is to reveal not to conceal in fact the very word revelation means unveiling and that's why we have our Lord saying hey let the reader understand pay attention to what I'm saying to you now here we have a description effectively at Matthew 24 of the Great Tribulation Period starting with the emergence of Antichrist and ending with the return of Jesus Christ verse 5 many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and will deceive many the Tribulation Period ends with it with the return of Christ to the earth verse 30 then will the Son of Man appear in heaven and all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory no not with Greg Laurie great glory though I hope to be there when he does come back so first we see the emergence of Antichrist now sometimes when we study Bible prophecy we can't see the forest for the trees we hear terms like Antichrist millennium second coming rapture other two witnesses 144,000 and it's all very mysterious to us so let me give you sort of a basic flyover so you could see sort of the big picture of what is about to happen it is my opinion at the next event on the prophetic calendar will be the rapture of the church now I'll define that in a few moments right before that or right after that it seems to me would be the time of the invasion of Magog against Israel spoken of in Ezekiel 37 38 and 39 that large force from her north we'll talk later about who may Gog and her allies may be shortly after that Antichrist emerges on the scene he effectively inaugurates what we call the Great Tribulation Period that lasts for seven years now the first half of the Tribulation Period three and a half years is a time of relative peace sort of like Rome imposed peace and the Pax Romana forced peace but many will hail the Antichrist is a great leader some will even think he's the very Messiah but at the halfway point after he's helped the Jews rebuild their temple and desecrates it that's the abomination of desolation Antichrist effectively shows his true colors I begins to persecute Jewish people Christians as well no one can buy or sell without his mark we'll deal with that later but then comes the tribulation period cataclysmic earthquakes massive famine and war like we have never seen on this planet before verse 7 nation will rise against nation Kingdom against Kingdom there'll be famines pestilences an earthquake so the Tribulation Period culminates with the battles of Armageddon fought in the valley of Megiddo actually the word Armageddon harm again comes from the root word Megiddo so it's really a description of where the battle will be which is right there in the Middle East in this massive valley and then Christ returns and the second coming we as believers return with him and then that inaugurates the millennial reign of Christ a thousand years of peace this is when the lamb is with the lion and the child takes his Rhyno for a walk and can play on the adders den the venomous snake and so forth I will not harm them and so then after that we have the fulfilment of the prayer of our Lord when he said our Father who art in heaven how it would be your name thy kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven at the conclusion of the millennial reign the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven to the earth and effectively heaven and earth become one so that's the big picture now let's come back to what Jesus is specifically talking about in verse 1 Jesus went out and departed from the temple and the disciples came to show him the buildings of the temple mark's version of this has the disciples saying look teacher what massive stones what magnificent buildings there was no hyperbole in this fact as the jewish temple the second temple the first temple was built by Solomon the son of David the second temple was rebuilt by King Herod this particular edifice was considered one of the great wonders of the ancient world a magnificent structure the Roman historian Tacitus said it was a place of immense wealth some of the stones measured 40 feet by 12 by 12 and weighed up to a hundred and ten tons now when you stop and think about the fact they didn't have modern construction equipment this was built by people it's mind-boggling it had been under construction for 46 years do you think your building plan is taking long your remodel in your home or somewhere else 46 years it was nearing completion when this event happened that we're reading then Jesus Trump's a bombshell that makes a very specific prediction now before we read it understand he's putting it all on the line if this prediction of Christ which was in their future and now as in our past was not accurate then Jesus cannot be trusted when he speaks of other future events however if what he says happened as he said it would happen then we can trust his word on all future events ok so without a mine verse 2 he said do you not see all these things or certainly I say to you not one stone will be left here upon another that we throw it that will not be thrown down so not only is Jesus saying the temple will no longer be here but he is seen it's gonna be dismantled stone by stone now here's the question did this happen historically well absolutely and there are many historical sources that backed this up it happened in 70 AD when Roman general Titus rolled into Jerusalem interestingly he gave the command that the temple was to not be destroyed however as fire spreads of the city and rose upward toward the Temple Mount the heat became so intense that the gold overlays on the temple mount melted between the cracks and as the Roman soldiers were pillaging the city they wanted to get this gold thus every stone was taken down to retrieve it and not one stone was left upon another so the fulfillment of that prophecy was 100% now with this in mind now Christ speaks of our future this is our past what he just referenced but now the rest of what he says is our future what is still ahead now I'm not going to go through Matthew 24 verse by verse I'm going to go through it event by event and a chronological order so now I'm gonna kind of fast forward to the next event as I said that I believe is on the prophetic calendar which is the rapture of the church and in the opening statement about it Christ warns against date setting look at verse 36 but of that day and hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven but my father only as the days of Noah were so also with the coming the son of man be four in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the Ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away so also will the coming of the Son of Man be two men will be in a field one will be taken in the other land two women will be grinding at the mill one will be taken in the other left watch therefore for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming but know this if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would have come he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into therefore you also should be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect will stop there the rapture what is it why is it and when is it again what is it why is it and when is it you might be surprised to know that according to a Newsweek poll 55% of Americans think that the faithful would be taken up to heaven in the rapture that means that almost one half of America believes in this event that we refer to as the rapture so what is the rapture my friend mark Hitchcock who's written a lot of books on Bible prophecy gave I think a very succinct statement so I can offer my own version but I'll just read what he wrote because I think it's very well stated what is a rapture he says the rapture of the church is that future event when Jesus Christ will descend from heaven to resurrect the bodies of departed believers and to transform and translate the bodies of living believers immediately into his glorious presence in a moment of time and then escort them to heaven to live with him forever that's very well set okay so here's often the pushback that we get on this topic why can't you find the word rapture in the Bible yeah will you talk about the rapture show me either where the rapture is in the Bible I'll show you where the rapture is yeah what about the word rapture okay show me where the word Bible is in the Bible show me where the word Trinity is in the Bible guess what they're not there it's the teaching of the Trinity in the Bible absolutely is the authority of Scripture taught in the Bible no question about it but I'm just making a point there the fact of the matter is this you do have the word rapture in your Bible if you read a Latin translation does anybody have a Latin translation and think so well see because rapture is the Latin word wrapped Taurus it's a translation of the Greek word harpazo so when we talk about the rapture it's a Greek word harpazo but if I start calling it the harpazo you won't know what I'm talking about so I'll go back to that default word rapture but it actually it is not an incorrect translation of harpazo it means to take forcibly to snatch or to catch up to take forcibly the snatch or to catch up and it's used 13 times in the New Testament so this teaching of people being caught up snatched or removed quickly that's taught many times in the Bible probably the definitive scripture on it where the word harpazo is used as 1st Thessalonians 4 when it says the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout with a voice of voice of the Archangel the trumpet of God the dead in Christ will rise first we which are alive and remain shall be caught up are pazzo caught up to meet them in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord so that's what the rapture is number 2 why is there a rapture now follow me on this business is very important the context of Paul's teaching on the rapture was a response to believers in Thessalonica when loved ones died see they wondered if if they miss the rapture if they would ever see their loved ones again so contextually there in 1st Thessalonians 4 Paul says in verse 13 we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who have died so you will not grieve as those who have no hope now I want to come back again to that that statement when people say well we need to study Bible prophecy well I think we should because we need to understand how this all works and that's why Paul was saying to the believers there in Thessalonica I want you to understand what's gonna happen in prophetic events I want you to understand what happens to your loved ones after they die and as I said recently whenever I do the column program pastors perspective with Don Stewart on Wednesdays were asked more questions about end times events and the afterlife than any other so in these two topics where God says he doesn't want us ignorant it seems Christians have more ignorance so let's understand what these things mean it's important because then Paul concludes in 1st Thessalonians 4:18 comfort one another with these words so here's what he's saying guys listen now yes the rapture is coming but you don't have to worry about it because you will see your loved ones again and for those of you that have lost a loved one let me ask you how many of you have someone you were very close to who is in heaven right now raise your hand up yeah and for those of you that didn't raise her again it's just a matter of time until you will have someone there and and when you have someone that's very close to you it could be your mom your dad or possibly a grandparent it could be a spouse it could be a child even a close friend but when someone is taken quickly from you it's traumatizing it's jarring it it's life-altering and you find yourself thinking about that person for us you know we think about our son Kristopher all the time you think Greg but it's like seven years please really oh yeah really really and that's why you never see that someone who's lost a child are you over it yet you don't get over it you just adjust to it and you have to survive it but you still think about it I was in my office a few minutes ago and I opened up a box with a lot of old photos and when you've lost a loved one a box of photos is a minefield because every one of those photos explodes memories and and you remember when you were doing this with them and I'm looking at these photos of my son as a little boy and I just start choking up it's hard but then I reassure myself I'll see him again that's what the rapture promises that you're gonna just be going about your life and all of a sudden so quickly you can't even measure it in time you're gonna be reunited with loved ones that have preceded you to heaven mothers and fathers will be reunited with sons and daughters husbands will be reunited with wives and wives with husbands children will be reunited with parents and parents with children brothers will be reunited two brothers and sisters with sisters will all be together again in your sorrow will be immediately replaced by an ecstatic joy seeing that is why Paul says to those believers we do not grieve as those that have no hope listen Christians grieve when we lose loved ones we grieve and that's why it's wrong to ever say to someone who has lost someone they love don't cry there in heaven you gotta be smacked for saying that don't ever say that what do you mean don't cry there in heaven clearly you've never lost anyone of course they should cry crying is one of the way we ways we process the pain and even Jesus said blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted it's good to mourn and cry out to God when there comes a point where you're not crying as much as used to and the irony is first you feel bad you cry because you feel so bad and then when you start to feel good you feel bad about feeling good it's hard and so we grieve when we lose a loved one we feel sorrow however we do not grieve hopelessly we grieve hopefully there's a difference it's not hopeless grieving it's hopeful grieving because we know we will be reunited with them again that brings comfort therefore Paul says comfort one another with these words CS Lewis once said and I quote a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not form of escapism or wishful thinking but one of the things that Christian is meant to do end quote it's a good thing to think about heaven it's a good thing to think about what your loved one may be doing it's a good thing to remind yourself you will be joining them one day that was a rapture referenced anywhere else well yes it is John 14 jesus said in my father's house are many mansions or not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will receive you unto myself that where I am you may be also John also addresses that first John 3 - dear friends with the children of God it's not clear what we will be but we know when he appears we will be like him for we will see him as he is ok question number three when is the rapture answer we don't know in anyone who says they know is wrong when Jesus says no man knows that dear the hour have you translated that from the original language it would come out to say no one knows the day or the hour and what it means as no one knows the day or the hour okay no one and I am resistant to anything that approaches date setting someone was talking to me the other day about blood moons the blood moons and the feasts are coming in and I September it all culminates in September I said I wouldn't do that if I were you you you just effectively are implying a date we don't know hey buddy it could be August it could be this month it could be next September it could be 10 years from now that's in the hands of God let's not get hung up on date setting and taking scriptures that may be being misinterpreted to say something we want them to say here's what God says it's going to happen it's going to happen quickly and it's going to happen when he wants it to happen so we need to be ready that's the bottom line and that's all we need to know that's it now these people with their blood moons and feets are right I'll say hallelujah when I'm in heaven you are right god bless you but if they aren't right then some are gonna say well you see it didn't happen yeah well don't put your hope in those things put your hope on what the Word of God says how quickly will it happen well twinkling of an eye is the verse or statement used here by Paul of 1st Corinthians 15 tell you a mystery will not sleep well be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet we will be changed this comes from the Greek word animos we get our English word Adam from it this is something that cannot be divided it's been said that the twinkling of an eye is one thousandth of a second is that fast enough for you you can't even measure that so what I'm saying you could be reunited with loved ones you could be in the presence of the Lord it's not like some long drawn-out event okay it's not like little trumpet oh it's the rapture I gotta call someone no no no no it's just like done even faster than that is that - look took too long for me to say anyway now this is interesting what happens to our loved ones when they die we've already talked about this but I'll say it again for those of you that missed it but our loved ones die they go to heaven if they're Christians now remember last time we talked about what happens to folks who die who are not believers they go to hell or Hades but the believer goes straight into the presence of God you see but yeah but great the body is still in the ground that's true so their soul their spirit goes into God's presence their body remains in the ground but here's that the Bible says that dead in Christ will rise first the Bible teaches a bodily resurrection so us the Christian are you saying to me that bodies are gonna burst out of the ground what I'm saying is there's a bodily resurrection so it would appear that is the case so I don't know if this is true well listen there's even a prototype of it in scripture after Jesus died on the cross a lot of amazing phenomena took place remember there there was the curtain in the temple that was torn in two from top to bottom the listen to this that's you 27 verse 55 it says and also the tombs opened and the bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead after Jesus resurrection they left the cemetery and went into the holy city of Jerusalem and appeared to many people Wow the day of the Living Dead so here's Christ he dies on the cross and all of a sudden all these bodies are raised and they're just walking around so you're like uh Uncle Harry I thought we buried you two days ago yeah this is what happened it's sort of like a prototype of what will happen in the rapture there'll be a bodily resurrection job said in my flesh I will see God so that means that the body of your loved one will in some way be resurrected again now the rapture and the Second Coming are often confused so let's try to sort this out the rapture happens before the tribulation period begins the Second Coming happens at the end of the great tribulation period in the rapture he comes in the Air Force US alone ian's 4 and the Second Coming he comes to the earth in the rapture he comes for his bride that's the church and the second coming he returns with his bride one speaks of Christ's coming like a thief to the unsuspecting that's the rapture the second coming says the whole earth will see him the rapture is before Judgment the second coming he returns with judgment so what will the spiritual and moral climate be when Jesus comes for us well our Lord says it's going to resemble the days of Noah look at verse 37 the days of Noah were so also will the coming of the Son of Man be for in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the Ark now if you go back to the story of Genesis and please disregard the film Noah as any point of reference for this story I don't know if you saw that film I think Russell Crowe's a great actor but one of the craziest scenes was when he's on the ark and people are trying to get off and and Russell Crowe goes all you know gladiator on him he's got his sword out he's fighting the people off so they can't get on the ark it could not be further from the biblical story and the biblical story the ark just sat there with the door open and the ramp extended for anyone that wanted to join him Noah was not killing people that want to get on the ark they were welcome in the ark the problem was they didn't want to go and though it was a laughingstock of the people and there were no big giant rock monsters helping Noah either now when I saw that I thought oh please that's when the film jumped the shark for me but anyway here's what the Bible says it says things were so sinful at that time it was like it was full to the brim as I sinned stunk to high heaven like an overflowing trash can or septic tank so God tells Noah to build an ark now understand it had never rained before never so here's Noah building an ark a big giant boat why he up to this point the earth was sort of watered if you will by a water canopy creating sort of a terrarium effect so it was this beautiful warm moist air not unlike you would find in a tropical kind of environment so there had never been rain and here's Noah building an ark why is he building an ark and they thought it was a joke and so people just went on with business as usual that's what Jesus is saying when he says that they were eating and drinking and given in marriage you know they they got married they ate they drink and they mocked this is exactly how it will be as people are on this earth before Christ comes second Peter 3 says first I want to remind you in the last day or so be scoffers who will laugh at the truth and do every evil thing they desire here's our argument oh jesus promised to come back tinnie well then where is he as far back as anyone can remember everything has remained exactly the same since the world was first created and that's exactly what we hear today isn't it oh you believe in that that's crazy please well this is what the Bible says it'll be just like it was in the days of Noah now Jesus personalizes it for us verse 42 watch therefore for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming now this is a word to you as we're talking about these events Jesus says so watch therefore whenever you see the word therefore in the Bible find out what it's there for and it's telling me to be ready this word therefore excuse me or the word watch could be translated be continually expectant the faithful believer will be walking with and serving God as they await his return verse 45 he says who is a faithful and wise servant whom his master made ruler over his household to give him food in due season blessed is a servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing assuredly I say to you he'll make him ruler over all of his goods see there is a reward that's going to be given to the faithful Christian listen you have three things you can give to God every day really three things tying treasure and talent you have your day you have your time you give that to the Lord you have your treasure you have your resources give that to the Lord and you have your talent your gifts your abilities give that also to the Lord and he promises as we do that he will bless us and there will be a reward given to us later in life this is what's going to happen to the faithful Christian but then there's the unfaithful servant or unbeliever who lives like a fool drop down to verse 48 but if that evil servant says in his heart my masters d'Alene is coming and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards the master of the servant will come in a day when he's not looking for him and in an hour that he's unaware and will cut him in two and appoint him he has portion with the hypocrites they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth now when we read to be an evil servant we're not talking about a Christian we're talking about a person who acts like they're a Christian let me restate that a person who says they're a Christian but they really aren't Jesus uses the key word hypocrite you know in the original context the word hypocrite simply meant an actor a performer and that's what this person is it's someone who pretends to be something they really are not here's my concern when the rapture comes and I believe it can happen tonight I believe it could happen today I believe that with all of my heart when it comes those who are ready will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air those who are not will be left and my concern is there are people even in the church folks even in this church who could be left because you play the little Christian game and you use the Christian vocabulary but you were living a life that contradicted it this guy's out partying with his friends hanging out with the drunkards Jesus said you know your odds are living in a moral lifestyle or you're out there party in your life away or doing some other thing the Bible says you should not be doing but you're saying I'm ready I'm okay because I go to church no you're just an actor you're faking it he's coming for real believers are you a real believer or are you a pretender see only you know the answer to that I don't know it because most people who fake it are pretty darn good but God knows and you know listen you can fool God never you can fool some of the people all of the time you can fool some of the people all the time but you can't fool God any of the time so I want to close with this if you are not sure that your life is right with God maybe you've never asked Jesus to come into your life or maybe you've been going to church even this church for years but you know you're living that double life and you're not really a follower of Christ I want you to get right with God so when the Lord comes you'll join us for the best party ever held in heaven the best reunion you ever been to most family reunions are weird because we have weird families this is gonna be an awesome family reunion because everyone's in a perfected state no more strange uncles or weird cousins or all in our glorified state and if you don't know Christ yet or if you've been playing a little religious game get right with him right now let's all bow our heads everybody pray and father I'm praying now that your Holy Spirit will convict and convince people of their need for you right now I pray for everyone here everybody watching this wherever they are everyone listening to this wherever they are that they will see their need for Jesus and if they don't believe in you now that they'll believe in you that they'll come to you help them to do that we ask in your name well our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying how many of you would be honest enough to say I need to get right with God today I don't know Jesus Christ I don't have this hope of heaven I don't have this assurance I'll be one of the ones who are ready but I want it or you might say man I've been playing a religious game I put on a good show but I haven't been walking with God in fact I've been doing things openly that he tells me not to do and I want to repent of that get right with him if you want Christ to come into your life if you want him to forgive you of your sin if you want to know that you will go to heaven when you die if you want to be ready for his return wherever you are would you lift your hand up and let me pray for you lift your hand up primer I can see it cut bless you anybody else god bless you lift your hand up some of you are watching this screen can't see you but would you raise your hand too little step toward God you're watching that screen just raise your hand up this is between you and the Lord you want to be sure you're ready for his return raise your hand up let me pray for you God bless you anybody else raise your hand if wherever you are now I'm gonna ask everyone who has raised their hand if you would please I want you to stand to your feet and I'm gonna lead you in a prayer just stand up you that raised your hand stand up even if you did not raise your hand but you want Christ to come into your life or you want to recommit your life to him stand to your feet now I'm going to lead to Ana prayer and in this prayer you're making a commitment or a recommitment to follow him anybody else I think there's a few more of you that want to do this stand to your feet right now listen if God's Holy Spirit is showing you your need to do this do this anybody else stand to your feet now and I'll lead you in this prayer one final moment wherever you are watching me on a screen stand to your feet we're gonna pray together I'll wait one more moment god bless you anybody else one last moment stand to your feet all right god bless all of you standing I'm gonna pray a prayer and I'm gonna ask you to pray it out loud after me and this is where you're asking God to forgive you of your sin and you're making a commitment to follow Jesus again as I pray pray this out loud after me right now pray this out loud if you would Lord Jesus I know I'm a sinner but I know you're a savior who died on the cross for my sin I'm sorry for that sin I turn from it now I choose to follow you make me ready for your return thank you for calling me and loving me and forgiving me in Jesus name I pray amen god bless you that prayed that prayer god bless all of you No you

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 15,444

Rating: 4.9504642 out of 5

Keywords: harvest, greg laurie, terrorism, End Time (Belief)

Id: fJpDTc22548

Length: 45min 46sec (2746 seconds)

Published: Wed May 27 2015