The Secret To Happiness Revealed (With Greg Laurie)

hey everybody thanks for watching our youtube channel we're constantly updating it with new content and never seen before content so if you want to get the latest from harvest hit the subscribe button most people deep down inside want to be happy my goodness it's even in our declaration of independence that we want to be happy in the united states of america and to the point even those who say they don't want to be happy but rather they want to be unhappy find a certain happiness in their own happiness a case in point have you ever seen a woody allen movie it's sort of like celebrating misery and making it funny too well that's because deep down inside we all want to be happy it's been said quote there are two things that are true of every person we all want to be happy and we're all going to die by the way you may be surprised to know that god wired you that way and this goes back for centuries augustine in a.d said quote everyone whatever his condition desires to be happy end quote nearly 13 centuries later french philosopher and mathematician blaise pascal wrote all men seek happiness this is without exception i read uh in the newspaper a while back the lead singer of one of the most well-known rock bands in the world and he was quoted to say this you asked me if i'm happy listen i bought myself a rolls royce a part of the biggest band in the world and i'm about to move into a luxurious mansion am i happy with that no i'm not i want more see some things never really change when comedian dave chappelle was making millions of dollars he found he was not happy and he was quoted to say the higher up i go the less happy i am so is happiness a lost cause marilyn manson said quote anyone who thinks they're happy should really go see a doctor because there's no reason to be happy and quote milton berle the comedian said quote a man doesn't know what true happiness is until he gets married then it's too late so only i would quote marilyn manson dave chappelle and and uh in milton berlin the same sermon right okay but i'm just trying to show you this the spectrum of opinions on the topic george burns another comedian from years gone by said happiness it's having a large loving caring close-knit family in another city okay so there was always a punchline with those guys but listen despite what all these people tell us according to the bible you can be happy according to the bible you should be happy and you just need to look for it in the wrong in the right place and the problem is far too many people look in the wrong place and then they conclude if they don't find it there that happiness cannot be found before i tell you what happiness is and where to find it let me tell you where you will not find happiness number one being beautiful or handsome will not bring personal happiness let me say that again being beautiful or handsome will not bring you personal happiness i know this from experience that wasn't a joke that kind of hurt a little bit honestly i mean to be laughed at in the face no i meant it i mean it's a joke you know because i think people think you know if i was as beautiful as the girls i see and the magazines and the ads if i was as handsome as the movie stars etc i'd be happy in fact 94 of girls age 18 and under wish they were more beautiful let me take a quick poll how many of you girls wish you were more beautiful just be truthful you wish you were more beautiful raise your hand yeah there you go okay oh wow that's interesting so i mean said that how many of you think you're already beautiful raise your hand huh okay i don't disagree i'm just interested um but most people always will say well you know i'm okay but well look at her i'm all right but look at him 85 percent of women over 40 say they're not as attractive as the average women woman and that's why last year americans spent 11.4 billion dollars on cosmetic surgeon fees and that was newport beach alone i've seen some and i'm thinking really you say i want to look like the model in the magazine news flash the model doesn't even look like the model in the magazine haven't you ever heard of photoshop little airbrushing the 2014 annual academy of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery survey blamed the rise of the selfie they said we're taking so many photos of our self more than ever before we use photoshop instagram filters and other enhancements to look our best and they say plastic surgery is the next logical step you're always going to find someone more beautiful than you uh beauty and handsomeness physical attractiveness will not make you happy number two personal possessions will not bring personal happiness they can improve your life make your life more comfortable but they will not bring the real happiness you're searching for there was an article in time magazine uh that had the title the real truth about money and it said quote clinical depression is three to ten times as common today than two generations ago money jingles in our wallets and purses as never before but we are no happier for it in fact for many more money leads to more depression maybe that's why proverbs 27 20 says hell and destruction are never full and so is the heart of man never satisfied having relationships will not make you happy now look you're wired for a relationship you're wired to have someone that you will love and uh and marry one day that's not a bad thing but if you say marriage is gonna make you happy you're going to be in for a big shock maybe even before the honeymoon is over and you know because we're asking a person to do something a person simply cannot do and we as a person can't meet all the needs of another person because people let us down parents let down children children let down parents husbands let down wives wives let down husbands cat all cats always let down their owners dogs do better number four pursuing pleasure will never bring personal happiness pursuing pleasure i didn't say you can't have happiness in pleasure there are many fine pleasures in life that are good you know a nice meal a beautiful sunset time with people you love those are good pleasures but then there are perverse pleasures of pleasures that are sinful and the bible even says there can be a little fun and the pleasure for a time but then comes the repercussions of it and you know you think well if i just you know try this drug or if i drank a little bit more or i had this experience no none of those things in and of themself will make you happy because after the russian excitement wear off the deadness kicks in that's why the bible says in first timothy 5 6 she that lives for pleasure is dead while she's living you want to be a real zombie not like you see on tv but a walking dead person be a person that lives for pleasure it'll never make you happy in fact living for pleasure is one of the most unpleasable things you can do it's been said the best cure for hedonism is an attempt to practice it so all right happiness doesn't come from those things and where does it come from where do you find personal happiness simple answer the only place to find real lasting happiness is in a relationship with god and we'll establish that clearly in the book of philippians c.s lewis the great thinker and writer put it this way quote god designed the human machine to run on himself he himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn or the food our spirits were designed to feed on there is no other that is why it is just no good asking god to make us happy in our own way god cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself end quote that is so true the people that know god are the happiest people one of the world's foremost experts on the topic of happiness made this statement i don't have a religious or spiritual bone in my body yet i have to admit that the studies show that people with faith in god are happier and why is that well when you have faith you have hope because you know life is not just a span on this earth you know there's an afterlife and if you put your faith in christ you have the hope of heaven if you are a believer in jesus christ you will by nature be a forgiving person you see it's been said the first to apologize is the bravest the first to forgive is the strongest the first to forget is the happiest and quote and that's true when you forgive and you forget that will bring you happiness so because we have hope because we forgive because we have faith it gives us a happier state and here's something that might surprise you god wants you to be happy remember when the angels announced the birth of jesus they said we bring you great news our joy news of great joy but it could be translated good news of great happiness and also we read in luke 10 20 jesus said be happy that your names are written in heaven so he's telling us to be a happy person now that doesn't mean if you're a christian you won't have sadness and sadness is not always a bad thing you know sadness has its place especially when you're mourning someone you love that maybe is gone or or something else it's okay it's a process that we have where we we cry out to god and deal with these things but even in the midst of sorrow even in the midst of mourning you can still have this deep seated happiness it doesn't come from what you have or don't have it comes from who you know by the way there are 2700 passages in the bible containing words like joy happiness pleasure laughter gladness feasting and celebration let me say that again wrap your mind around this there are 2700 passages in the bible containing words such as joy happiness pleasure laughter gladness feasting and celebration so when you see someone that you know they never smile and and they're never happy you say man you need to read your bible more because god wants you to be a happy person and know this even god himself is happy have you ever thought about that you know when you look at the false gods of this world they're never happy you ever look at the tiki gods in hawaii you know people like to collect them they're actual gods and they're always mad they have a big frown in their face usually their tongue is sticking out buddha he's not really happy he looks for the most part to be asleep i've seen a couple with a slight little smile on his face but uh you know the these other gods are not happy but we serve the happy god in john 15 jesus said i've told you this to make you completely happy as i am jesus was happy but greg wait he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief that's true the bible says that but he said i want you to be happy like i'm happy do you think jesus always went around crying and with a frown on his face i think when that verse is telling us he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief it's describing the time when he was carrying the cross to calvary and bearing the sins of the world but i think jesus was a happy savior a smiling savior do you think children would have wanted to be around jesus if he wasn't approachable i think it was that warmth that he had that drew them in so we serve a happy god and he wants us to be happy as well in fact paul writes the glorious news entrusted to me by the blessed god or a better translation would be the good news from the happy god i like that don't you the happy god and that is one of the mean themes running to the book of philippians yet the fact of the matter is that circumstantially the apostle paul the author of this book had nothing to be happy about he had nothing outwardly to rejoice about he didn't write this from some ivory tower he was writing this from a prison cell in rome and you know what paul knew a lot about personal hardship and discomfort he suffered more than most people ever will in second corinthians 11 24 here's what he says i've worked harder i've been put in jail more often i've been whipped times without number i faced death again and again five different times the jews gave me 39 lashes three times i was beaten with rods once i was stoned and left for dead am i that three times i was shipwrecked once i spent a whole night and day a drifted sea i've traveled many weary miles i face danger from flooded rivers and waters i face danger for my own people the jews as well as the gentiles i face danger in the cities and the deserts and on the stormy seas i face danger from those who claim to be christians but are not i've lived with weariness and pain and sleepless nights often i've been hungry and thirsty and i've gone without food often i've shivered with cold without enough clothing to keep me warm and beside all of this i have the daily burden of how the churches are getting along wow so you think you have problems i was talking about a cold it seems pretty silly compared to what the apostle paul went through he wrote this book from rome now when we think of rome today you know we think of a city of ruins amazing pizza and pasta scooters everywhere the treve fountain you know things like that maybe a romantic spot well the roma paul's day was a much different place it was effectively the capital of the world the roman empire had bludgeoned the planet into submission and living in rome at this time was a very dangerous thing because caesar nero was in power he was probably the worst of the caesars uh he instituted daily uh contests in the arena between the gladiators there in the great coliseum a good part of which is still standing in rome today and he became progressively more bloodthirsty and decadent a contemporary of nero roman philosopher known as seneca wrote with dismay saying i felt as if i was living in a sewer end quote nero is believed to be the one who set rome on fire and then he blamed it on the christians we know historically that caesar nero took a perverse pleasure in torturing and murdering followers of jesus christ stories are told of how he would cover them in animal skins and let them be attacked by dogs he would crucify them he would even cover christians in pitch and set them aflame to light his garden as he would ride around in his chariot his uh his mother was murdered by him he murdered his wife and his mother agrippina and after his rise to power and her last words tell something of how wicked nero had become as the emperor she said to the executioner the good thing about my death is the womb that born nero is now dead wow this is one bad dude and he was in power and this is where paul was and yet he's brimming with joy and he's talking about happiness he's chained to a roman guard day and night his case was coming up shortly but paul didn't know how it would turn out he might be acquitted he might be beheaded uh he originally wanted to preach in rome and he ends up here as a prisoner and if this isn't bad enough many of the believers were against him they were spreading lies about the great apostle so he was under the most miserable circumstances imaginable and yet here he is rejoicing but he was immobilized you know paul was a kind of get the job done sort of guy and for him to be chained up and and not able to get out and move about was very hard for him and maybe you find yourself in this similar situation you're immobilized maybe you're unable to move physically or perhaps in some other way you're in a marriage that's tough sledding at the moment a job you would love to get out of a school you would like to transfer from a neighborhood you would like to move from or a sermon you don't want to hear anymore let's talk so that it here's what paul is saying despite your circumstances even if you're immobilized you can have great happiness and that's what he says over and over again in fact of all the things that paul wrote this is probably the most buoyant happy joyful book of all and let's try to figure out why he was so happy in this epistle at least 19 times in these four chapters paul mentions joy rejoicing or gladness you might write these notations down when he first thought of the philippian believers it brought a smile to his face in philippians 1 3-4 he says i thank my god upon every remembrance of you always in prayer making requests for you all with joy so paul was southern make requests for y'all with joy so when he would think about the believers there it would bring a smile to his face when he encouraged them to work together as christians he got joyful thinking about it in philippians 2 he says if there's any consolation in christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the spirit or affection and mercy fulfill my joy and be like-minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind you know i was just doing an interview with my friend frank sontag who is on kkla and we were there in the uh lobby of our church the foyer uh and we were just talking about different things and and people were starting to come in and i just sort of sat there watching everybody as i'm talking to frank and i'm thinking look at all these happy people and they're here at church and they've developed friendships and and there's a bond there and i know people who've met each other in church and have gotten married and are getting married and and i just think this is a wonderful thing when the church works and we can have this fellowship and this joy together so paul said man that that makes me happy when we can work together that brings me joy you know i'm thrilled at a crusade when i see people come forward but i'm equally as thrilled when i see all y'all out there helping to get the job done and i look down and i recognize this usher and i know this counselor and this person working in security and this other person helping tear down equipment or build the stage and and i look at all these folks and i think they're all here serving the lord and serving the lord together and that is a wonderful thing listen to this even when he thought of this potential death there was still this happiness and joy because paul writes in philippians 1 21 for me to live is christ and to die is gain if i live in the flesh this will mean more fruit from my labor and what i'll choose i can't tell but i'm hard pressed between the two having the desire to depart and be with christ which is far better nevertheless to remain in the flesh is needful for you and being confident of this i'll remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith but here's the bottom line of paul's happiness it's found in philippians 4 4 when he says rejoice in the lord always and again i say rejoice that's the key it's rejoicing in the lord it's not rejoicing in your condition or rejoicing in your circumstances or rejoicing in your current emotional state or rejoicing in something else it's rejoice in the lord now having established this a couple of questions come to mind number one how could paul be so positive so happy so jubilant in such adverse circumstances and number two is this something i can experience today and if so how let me answer the second question first yes you can experience this joy but you must meet the criteria that is laid out in this book and the secret to happiness is found in another word that is often repeated in the book of philippians and it is the word mind m-i-n-d mind paul uses the word mind ten times he uses the word think five times at times he uses the word remember and that sixteen references to the mind in other words the secret of christian happiness is found in the way a believer thinks notice i did not say the secret of christian happiness is found on the way a believer feels no the way you think you learn to think right you learn to think biblically you fill your mind with the truth of god it changes your outlook i'm not talking about you know positive thinking or possibility thinking i'm talking about having a mind that is filled with god's truth i'm talking about having the mind of christ and paul writes let this mind be in you which was also in christ jesus so it comes down to the way that you think and paul filled his mind with god's truth and he shows us how to live happily and in harmony with other people and you know we're a very divided people in america right now you've probably noticed that i mean i don't know that we've ever been more divided or if we have been i don't know that it was much worse than it is today this is just incredible how many divisions there are and paul's telling us how to come together those barriers can be overcome in jesus christ as we love and pray and serve the lord together and the book of philippians shows us how but first we must learn how to think biblically because listen you're always going to find someone or something to blame for your sour and bitter outlook on life well the reason i'm the way that i am is because this person did this to me that person did that this boss did that that pastor did that this other person said this you know there has to come a point where you realize you just have to stop blaming people it comes down to this the troubles between man and man or man and woman is really the trouble within man himself the person who is in conflict with himself generally is in conflict with everyone else so i just need to get right with god i need to forgive those that have wronged me and i need to start thinking biblically and then i will discover true and lasting happiness so it starts with getting right with the lord and you have to begin there so let's dig in that was the introduction by the way now let's have a bible study grab your bible or your phone or your tablet device or if the person sitting in front of you has philippians 1 tattooed on their head you can read that philippians 1 we're going to read verses 1 to 6. paul and timothy bond servants of jesus christ to all the saints in christ jesus who are in philippi with the bishops and deacons grace to you and peace from god our father and from the lord jesus christ i thank my god upon every remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine making requests for you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it under the day of jesus christ we'll stop there let's start with verse one to the saints in christ jesus who are in philippi you know it's very easy when we read epistles to sort of skip over the opening statements as though they have no relevance to us but we don't want to do that because really paul gives us the door to the life of happiness you must be one of the saints so if you want to be happy be a saint well that leads me out i'm not mother teresa you know i'm i'm a sinner yeah i know that we're all sinners but you have to understand what the word saint means it's an interchangeable word with the word believer how many of you are believers in jesus christ raise your hand up i there therefore saint all of you see but i didn't even need to do that you're already saints if you're a believer you're a saint if you're a saint you're a believer in fact uh we read when the lord told ananias to go pray for the newly converted saul of tarsus later to become the apostle paul ananias responded lord i've heard how much harm this man did to your saints in jerusalem remember paul would chase down christians and arrest them and sometimes even murder them he presided over the death of the first martyr of the church stephen but the reference is to the saints so if you're in christ jesus you are a saint but notice it's a saint in christ jesus in christ jesus believers are not saints because they're perfect believers are saints because they're in christ and jesus imputes his righteousness to them as a result listen to me i am a righteous man well i don't know greg i've seen you drive yeah listen i'm not righteous because of what i do i'm righteous because what of what he has done for me and he's put his righteousness into my spiritual bank account so to speak that's called being justified i'm positionally righteous now living it out that's another story that's where the word sanctification comes in you ever heard that word sanctification is living without justification and those are sort of words that we may not understand but justified is being made right with god i'm in a right standing with god but sanctification is living that out day to day in a practical way but i am righteous and i am a saint now you don't have to call me saint gregory if you don't want to but i might call you saint something and why am i a saint because i'm in christ a buddhist does not speak of himself as being in buddha nor does a muslim speak of himself as being in muhammad nor does a mormon speak of himself as being in joseph smith they may try to follow the teachings of these people but they're not in them but a christian is a saint because he's in christ in christ the bible says if any man be in christ he is an altogether different kind of person all things have passed away everything becomes fresh in you so i bring this up for this reason the book of philippians and for that to the point the rest of the new testament has nothing to say to the world that does not believe in jesus christ here's what god says to the world repent and believe in jesus that's our message to the world come to jesus and so when people say oh i found the bible as just the greatest self-felt book ever written and it tells you how to how to have a better marriage and how to have a happier life no that's actually not accurate because the bible is not given to non-believers to take the principles and try to live by them now the bible is given to god's people it's come to show us we need god the point of entry is your admission of your sin and your need for god and then it results in you putting your faith in christ and ii timothy 3 16 tells us what the bible's for it's here to teach us what is true to make us realize what's wrong in our lives it straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right so this is who it is written to to saint so you must be a saint or another way to put it you must be a believer so who in particular is paul offering these principles of happiness to he's offering to those who have believed in jesus now i want you to notice a wonderful promise that is given to the saint verse six he who has begun a good work in you will complete it under the day of jesus christ god always finishes what he begins greg does not always finish what he begins greg starts projects and doesn't always finish projects maybe you're the same way but god always completes what he has started with man you have unfinished books unfinished songs unfinished buildings and why well maybe it's a lack of resources or power but more often than not it's just a lack of desire you lose interest in it you have marriages falling apart well i just lost interest in it you have something else falling apart why i just didn't care anymore god always finishes what he starts because god has unlimited resources he has unlimited power and listen to this he has unlimited interest in you see he loves you and he sees the the finished work he sees the finished painting he sees the finished sculpture he sees the finished you he sees the ultimate you who you will become one day you just see the flaws you just see the shortcomings you ever look in one of those magnify mirrors oh i hate those they're just horrible because they expose your flaws and they magnify your flaws right but god sees your flaws he knows everything about you he knows your flaws better than you know your flaws trust me but he also sees your potential and he sees his plan and he sees the end game that he has for each of you he's going to bring what he started in your life to completion hebrews 12 says we are to look to jesus the author and finisher of your faith so i have good news you're going to make it you're going to make it to the end not good news go ahead and clap for that now because maybe you say oh this world such a horrible place and the devil's so powerful i might just fall away well really do you want to fall away well no do you want to continue on as a follower of jesus well yes well then you will because as we read it is god that works in us both to will and do of his good pleasure god wants to do it if you want to do it friend we have a game plan now if you're sabotaging what god is doing if you're resisting what god is doing if you're fighting with god even then he won't give up on you even then he will patiently bring you along but if you determine to rebel against his plan well yeah you can end it but that's not god's fault that's your fault but listen the bottom line is you're going to make it if you want to make it if you're willing and desiring to go forward as a christian then you will it is god that works in you and i want you to also notice that he's working in you to will and do of his good pleasure philippians 2 13. good pleasure god's plan for you is good one of my favorite passages is jeremiah 29 11 where god says i know the thoughts that i think toward you says the lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope so god is saying i'm thinking about you and by the way my thoughts are good and i have a future and a plan and a purpose for each of you his thoughts are good it's a good work that he wants to do he who has begun a good work in you will complete it under the day of jesus christ you know some of you are are maybe young and you're wondering about your future you're still single you're wondering you know am i ever going to meet that right guy that right girl you're thinking about your career what am i going to do with my life are you thinking about other things you know what will my health be like how long will i live uh will i reach goals that i've set for myself what's in my future you think about that a lot now as you get older you're wondering well how much longer will i live and how will the end of my life be will my health still be good will it be failing will i be dependent on others what's going to happen in the end you know you have these thoughts well god has your future all sorted out and all put together so the best thing is you need to just trust him i don't know about you but i like to know what's coming you know when i'm on the road driving you know that driver that's in this lane and he's over in this lane then he's back in this lane now he's up here and that's me that's me because when i look down a road i have the next eight moves figured out and in those moves i'm putting into play all the stupid moves other people will make and i'll tell you really do this a lot when you ride a motorcycle because i ride a bike and uh when you ride a motorcycle you have to basically come to one conclusion everyone on the road is a they're going to do the worst things possible that guy's going to pull right in front of you because uh he didn't notice you were there because he's on his cell phone and this guy's going to swerve into your lane because he's eating a cheeseburger and this person over here isn't gonna see you because she's putting her makeup on right in her in her rearview mirror and and this other person is drunk and this other person whatever but so you're you're like putting all these things in place you're kind of going down the road you write very defensively and and i don't like being behind a tall vehicle because i don't know what's ahead you ever been in a fast lane carpooling and uh the vehicle in front of you is going very slow say oh the traffic is horrible and then you pull out and you realize this is the only person going slow but you couldn't see that because he blocked your view why do people go so slow in the carpool lane why i mean they don't even go the speed limit they go under the speed limit snails are passing them anyway feels good to get that all out it really does so we'd like to see ahead so we can plan i'm going to do this i'm going to do that well god doesn't always let us see a head but he sees a head see he's the one driving the car he's the one in the cockpit you don't want that god is my co-pilot sticker on your car anymore rip it off god's not your co-pilot god doesn't even want you in the cockpit he wants you to put your seat belt on and and you know have your seat in the upright position and your carry on stowed away that he he's in charge and he's going to get you to your destination so we have to trust him on these things it's all good we sometimes say it's all good man it's all good don't panic it's organic what do these things mean it's all good i don't it's not always good no it's all good well it's not good right now talking to you but in a way that statement has some truth to it it's all good now i'm talking to a christian i'm talking to a saint i'm talking to a believer it's all good in the big picture i didn't say there won't be some bad moments i didn't say hard things will not happen to you i didn't even say tragedy will not befall you i just said it's all good in that god will work all things together for good to those that love him and other called according to his purpose the last time i taught this series was in january of 2008 so i keep all of my notes on my computer and i go back and review old notes and then i'll rebuild the messages and sometimes i'll pull elements from the last time i gave the message and this is very interesting because i'm looking at this whole section that i wrote on all things working together for good and we don't know our future and and we need to trust god and i even wrote in my notes you know sometimes that seem like they are bad will ultimately turn out to be good and i thought when did i write this and i saw oh wow january 2008 and i wish i could just say to greg of 2008 craig you have no idea what's ahead of you buddy because that same year is the year our son died in an automobile accident so i went back over my old notes and i thought do i still agree with the old greg was greg right when he wrote these things are these things actually theologically true and are they also true practically i mean have i known these things to be true and i had to look back and say you know what i don't just disagree with anything i said and it's not because i said it it's not because i wrote it it's because it's in the bible and you know when you're going through a bad thing and someone here listening to me is going through a bad thing right now i just know it really bad thing you've lost a loved one you found out you have cancer you have some big trauma that's happened in your life your husband your wife told you they want to divorce you something's happened with your kids just all kinds of things i know something bad has happened you think okay this is it this doesn't make sense some even say i'm starting to lose my faith over this listen the faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted your faith is going to be tested and bad things are going to happen in your life that are inexplicable but that doesn't mean god is not good and that does not mean that god still does not work all things together for good what it does mean is bad things happen to good people and more to the point bad things happen to godly people and that should not shake your faith because god never promised you a pain-free life god never promised you a trauma-free life in fact he promised you this in this world you will have tribulation but then he went on to say but be of good cheer i've overcome the world here here's what i'm saying yeah here's what i'm saying because you're saying i'm getting really depressed right now i mean like you know you're going to give a message in happiness it says happiness on the screen behind you the pulpit says happiness with little faces it's yellow which is a happy color and you're like such a downer i'm just trying to be truthful yes you can have this happiness but let's see what it is and what it isn't it's not just the emotional high of some pleasure or experience it's a deep-seated faith and trust in god knowing that yeah it's all good because one day when i get to heaven and i look back on earth with an eternal perspective i'll realize that god was in control of everything that happened to me even the bad things that were allowed he ultimately used for his good because after romans 8 28 the off-quoted verse comes romans 8 29 you all know romans 8 28 right let's say it together ready all things work together for good to those who love god another called according to his purpose okay now verse 29 continues on and by the way in the original verses when they were given there were no verse breaks it just went on all things work together for good of those that love god another call called according to his purpose for whom god did for no he also predestined to be conformed into the image of his own dear son there's your big picture it's all good man because ultimately god is going to make you more like jesus and there are things in life that are not easy at the time but they'll make you more like jesus he's going to complete what he started so don't worry about it just keep walking forward and start experiencing this joy and happiness that god offers [Music] i saw an advertisement and i believe it was a computer magazine quite a few years ago and it's a picture of a guy shaving in the mirror and it asks his question is it an alarm clock or a calling that gets you up in the morning i thought well that's a good question and they were selling some who knows what computer item but i thought it was a bigger question is it an alarm or a calling that gets you up in the morning i mean what makes you tick what do you get fired up about everybody is passionate about something what do you get up for in the morning i know it doesn't hurt if i smell coffee in the morning throw in some bacon and eggs and now we're talking come on the smell of bacon in the morning for you vegetarians the smell of brussels sprouts and kale or whatever you enjoy but uh but i'm talking about more than that i'm talking about what really gets you moving in life what gives your life purpose or a sense of meaning raising it above the level of mere existence because you know we don't want our lives to just be some blip on the screen we don't want to be just another statistic we want our lives to matter so my question is what is your master passion in life if you were to sum up what you live for in one word what would it be well some would say for me to live is you know to just live but to live is to live uh you know their philosophy would be take it one day at a time they just sort of exist almost in an animal-like state just kind of following impulses and and desires and so forth they they just sort of live for the moment they live for the next paycheck they live for the next weekend they're just sort of existing uh paul talks about people like this he says their god is their belly and some people's gods are bigger than other people's gods right but but when he said belly he didn't mean their actual stomach he meant their appetites in other words their god is a appetite they just live for satisfying the appetites that they have in life man that is just a really lame way to live number two there are some that would say well for me to live is pleasure you know it's just living for pleasure living for that experience living for that rush living for that buzz living for that excitement they might seek it through drinking they might they're not happy till you know they get that buzz right or some they're not happy until they're passed out i suppose because they do it every night or they want that drug high or they they want that adrenaline rush or whatever it is they live for pleasure one person said living for pleasure is one of the least pleasurable things a person can do and i think that's really true the bible even says she that lives for pleasure is dead while she's living and by the way this is not new to our times going back 2 000 years the popular philosophers of the day were called the epicureans and the teaching of epicurious their founder was the chief purpose of life is pleasure so they were living for that as well and in fact caesar nero was in power at this time he was the caesar or the emperor of rome and he himself said to live was to be like an unbridled beast in pleasure passion and partying man caesar would have fit in with everybody else today or many people today maybe our modern equivalent would be what we call the playboy philosophy you know hugh hefner would be the patron saint so if you want to end up as an old guy in pajamas wearing a captain's hat go for it pretty sad way to live a life i think chased after pleasure his whole life but this is the idea that cast stop followers restraints no absolutes you do whatever you want to do if it feels good do it that's what some people live for the bible tells us this is a dead end street others might say well you know what i live to get even i don't get mad i get even their philosophy is not live and let live their philosophy is live and let die if you get me i'm going to get you back and there's a lot of these people happen to be driving cars i think you know like you're at the light and the light turns green it's it's not even the second it's not a half a second it's just like a fraction of a second they lay on the horn behind you they tailgate you the whole time cuts you off he's kind of aggravated people that are basically always in a perpetual bad mood and they're always at war with someone they always have their nemesis they always like to be in a fight they love to be in a conflict uh this there are people like this that live for these things another might say well i mean i live for possessions it's to get stuff and then when i get that stuff i want to get more stuff and then when i get that other stuff i i need to get rid of this old stuff so i can make room for new stuff and they're just always collecting items and objects and it's always that next shiny thing it might be a shiny car or a shiny ring or a shiny computer or whatever it is they're chasing after but it's a object or a thing their philosophy would be he that dies of the most toys wins and i would just add a dot dot dot he that dies with the most toys wins dot dot dot nothing because jesus says what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul as i've often said you've never seen a hearse pulling a u-haul trailer you know you're going to leave everything here on this side in this life i mean solomon who lived many years ago was a man known for his wisdom and also had incredible possessions and he said this in ecclesiastes 2 4. i tried to find meaning in my life by building huge homes for myself and planting beautiful vineyards and i made gardens and parks and i collected great sums of silver and gold the treasure of kings and provinces i hired wonderful singers men and women in had beautiful concubines i had everything a man could desire anything i want i took and i did not restrain myself from any pleasure and he says one day i looked at all the things that i had accomplished and all that i had acquired and it was all meaningless it was like chasing the wind there was nothing solomon concludes really worthwhile anywhere others might appear more noble and say well i live to acquire knowledge you know i want to learn i want to discover new truth and that's actually a pretty good thing it's a lot better than just living for pleasure or living to get even but if in your pursuit of knowledge you leave god out of the equation you're just going to end up as a well-educated fool and i look at a lot of the universities today and i'm not so sure if people are getting an education or if they're getting an indoctrination you know and usually in a world view that's contrary to scripture i mean you look at a lot of these colleges and you have these safe spaces you know where you won't have any conflict or disagreement it's pretty amazing to me but excuse me this is not new to our time either um a philosopher of that day during paul's day was seneca he said the purpose of life is to enjoy oneself in the realm of ideas to think to learn to master the laws of nature then make the mind the master of men but again if you forget god and your pursuit of knowledge you will have learned nothing solomon also went after the pursuit of knowledge he was known at one point as the wisest man who ever lived and he said to increase knowledge only increases sorrow that's in ecclesiastes 1 16 but students don't go home and quote that verse to your parents when they tell you to do your homework mom the bible says to increase knowledge only increases sorrow shut up and do your homework okay that's not what we're talking about we're talking about pursuing knowledge without god so what do you drive what are you driven by what do you dream about what are you passionate about i think some people are just enduring there's waiting for the next thing their favorite day of the week is someday you know someday their ship will come in someday their prince will come someday they'll get that promotion someday they'll build that dream house or someday they'll retire i read a stat that said 94 of people who responded to a survey said they were enduring the present while waiting for something better to happen but the problem is life passes by so quickly and before you know it a good deal of your life may be behind you instead of before you and you'll found that you you'll find that you've been living for nothing so we need to think about this because then the after life comes so listen to this only those who are prepared to die are really ready to live let me say that again only those who are prepared to die are really ready to live now i've talked about what people live for let me tell you what the apostle paul lived for philippians 1 21 for me to live is christ and to die is gain oh i love that for me to live is christ and to die is gain now we're going to explore that a little bit more but let's just do a little backdrop on what we're looking at here we're looking at the book of philippians and the theme that keeps bubbling up to this great epistle is happiness and joy in fact this is probably the most buoyant happy letter that paul ever wrote not that there is not happiness and joy in other epistles he wrote but it just seems like there's a lot in this one in particular at least 19 times in these four chapters of philippians paul mentions joy rejoicing or gladness but yet circumstantially he really had nothing to rejoice about i mean if we read that paul wrote this book you know kicking back you know in the mediterranean enjoying life we'd say well yeah i get it but he actually wrote this under house arrest this wasn't embedded wasn't as bad as some of his imprisonment where he might have been like in a dungeon but this is where he was chained to a roman guard uh and he was under the control at this point of caesar nero and his case was waiting to go to court and paul had no idea what was about to happen he might be acquitted he might be beheaded but all he knew was he was a prisoner he could not walk about freely as he wanted to and if that wasn't bad enough some of the believers in the church were against them some were even spreading lies about this great apostle but he knew god was in control and here's what he wrote philippians 1. we're going to start in verse 12 and we'll read down to verse 16. just put a drop in my eye in case you saw i wear a contact lens on my right eye these are my drops i'm a dropaholic the moment i stop speaking i rip the contact out of my eye because i can't stand contact lenses just wanted to share that all right roman or philippians 1 verse 12 romans where did that come from i want you to know brothers that the things that happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel so it has become evident to the whole palace guard into all the rest that my chains are in christ and most of the brethren in the lord having become confident in my chains are more bold to speak the word without fear some indeed preach christ from envy and strife some also from good will the former preached christ from selfless ambition not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my chains but the latter route of love knowing that i'm appointed for the defense of the gospel what then only that in every way whether in pretense or in truth christ is preached and in this re i rejoice yes i will rejoice so here's paul chained to a roman guard writing these words can you imagine being one of those guards i'm sure they didn't like that job at first oh no i have to be chained to this thinking preacher all he does is talk about god this is insane but guard by guard they were coming to christ and then they were probably standing in line as to who would be the next guy to get to be chained to the apostle paul for that particular period of time because paul writes in verse 13 it's become evident to the whole palace guard now who are the palace guard these most likely are the praetorian guard the praetorian guard were the cream of the crop of the roman military uh there were ten thousand hand-picked soldiers they were initially established by caesar augustus who by the way was the caesar that gave the decree that all the world should be taxed causing joseph and mary to go to bethlehem but the praetorian guard they're very powerful people in fact they were king makers sometimes they would play a key role in deciding who the next caesar would be and these were the ones who were chained to the apostle paul and that brings me to point number one when you live for christ you will accept god's will for your life when you live for christ which you also we all should be doing you will accept god's will for your life see paul went to rome to preach but he ended up under house arrest now how is that a good idea well he was reaching an elite group of people that would have not been reached otherwise so paul understood god had his hand in it look at verse 12 the things that happened to me have turned out for the furtherance of the gospel did it ever occur to you that you are where you are because god wants you there right now maybe in effect you're chained to someone and by that i mean maybe you're chained to a non-believer maybe it's a non-believing husband or an unbelieving wife or kids that don't believe what you believe or parents that don't believe what you believe or uh argumentative coworker that you sit next to in your office space or some guy on your construction site that's always giving you a hard time and you're thinking why do i have to be here with this person did it ever occur to you that god wants you there to reach that person you know sometimes the people that argue the most are actually closer to coming to the lord than those that say nothing i think a lot of times we think that someone is pleasant and nice and we share the gospel we think that's a good thing and then when someone's argumentative that's a bad thing but sometimes it's the very opposite because it's been said when you throw a rock into a pack of dogs the one that barks the loudest is the one that got hit try it after a church find some dogs throw a rock no don't do it find a pack of cats but see you never find a pack of cats or very independent creatures but the idea is that dog that barks a lotus is the one that got hit so when you share the gospel with someone and one objects and they protest and they scream and they yell it might be because they're under the conviction of the holy spirit and god's working on their hearts so don't be discouraged be encouraged so paul is reaching the praetorian guard really quite significant and god has put you where you are for his purposes and he says in verse 14 most of the brethren and the lord have become confident by my chains and are more bold to speak the word without fear you see examples of evangelism spark others to be more evangelistic so they're saying wow paul's chained up in a under house arrest and is willing to share the gospel with the praetorian guard certainly we were freedom right now mobility we should be doing the same you know if you've ever been around an evangelistic christian it can be quite contagious and there are some people men they're just always fun and opportunities to share their faith and you think how do they do that they're just tuned in i think tuned into the lord tuned into opportunities looking for opportunities even and you get around a person like then you think well i think i could do that yes you can as a matter of fact so paul's example was inspiring other believers as well number two when you live for christ as we all should you'll be a person of prayer again when you live for christ you'll be a person of prayer have you ever wondered what to pray for when you pray for fellow believers paul actually gives us an answer here look at philippians 1 verse 9. and this i pray he's saying to the church at philippi that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment and that you may approve the things that are excellent and that you may be sincere and without offense to the day of christ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by jesus christ to the glory and praise of god interesting so paul's praying that they would grow in both love and discernment love and discernment you know sometimes it seems to me as though the two are mutually exclusive in other words some people seem to be very discerning but not very loving and some can be very loving and not very discerning now there are people that say well i have a discernment ministry which is another way of saying they like to argue and be obnoxious and you know i just think you're off a little theologically brother and they're always challenging everything and and i get this sometimes because of my work that i do in evangelism and i'll go to different places and speak and come into contact with different people and so maybe i'm at a conference and there's another speaker i would not agree with in every point theologically and someone says well greg endorses everything that that person says well that's not true and how do you know what i say to that person you know behind closed doors and i say a lot of things to a lot of people but i don't talk about it publicly because my conversations with people are private but i try to influence people i come into contact with uh in every way that i can to help them be closer to the lord and do what he's called him to do i don't always do a good job of it but at least i try but sometimes as well guilt by association you know you talk to that person therefore you endorse everything they say no not necessarily but i found some of these people they're just downright mean it's like where's the love man they don't even check out the facts they just jump to conclusions as j vernon mcgee used to say the only exercise some christians get is running down others and jumping to conclusions i mean that's true some people are discerning but they're not loving and i would even question if they're really discerning others are loving but they're not discerning and by that i mean they just accept everything and everyone it's all good man we all love the lord you know whatever they believe it doesn't matter well actually it does matter there is a place for discernment but look what paul says here in verse 1 actually verse 9 that they would grow in love this i pray that your love will grow still more love is a mark of a true christian don't say to me i love jesus but i don't love the church you can't love jesus and not love the church you can't love god who you can't see if you're not willing to love your brother or sister who you can see and so a mark of real faith of real love is that you'll love your christian brothers and sisters jesus said by this shall all men know you are my disciples what if you of what one for another love one for another so we should be loving and the bible tells us in romans 5 5 the love of god is poured out in our hearts so the love's there so you don't even need to pray lord you know i don't have any love you have some love but paul's saying i pray your love will grow and you know how your love will grow just start doing loving things don't wait for the emotion just take that little step and that benevolent gesture the kind word the word of encouragement paul says i pray that you grow in love but he also says i pray that you will grow in knowledge and the way that we grow in knowledge is through the study of scripture that's why we're here tonight to study the word of god this is called a bible study and a worship service and i love bible studies don't you or we can just open up the word of god and look at what it says and see how it applies in our lives and it concerns me that some believers are in their knowledge of scripture like brand new christians still people that have known the lord for 10 20 30 years that don't even know the basic bible doctrines and thus they get misled and that is why paul also says you need to grow in spiritual discernment verse 10 he says that you may approve the things that are excellent the word approved means to analyze and examine think carefully think biblically think analytically take all things and compare them to what the scripture says so we need to be praying these things for others and we need to be praying that god will do these things in our life as well now paul tells us how living for christ affects us in this life and the afterlife look at verse 21 philippians 1 still for me to live is christ and to die is gain but i have to live on in the flesh that will mean fruit for my labor yet what i shall choose i cannot tell for i hard pressed between the two having the desire to depart and be with christ which is far better nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you and being confident of this i know that i will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith that you're rejoicing for me may be more abundant in jesus christ by my coming to you again look again in verse 21 for me to live is christ now when we hear someone say for me to live is christ we wonder you know are these people in touch with reality really to live is christ and what does it even mean some will say well you know some are so heavenly minded there are no earthly good and and my counterpoint to that is some are so earthly minded they're no heavenly good and i think when you're really heavenly minded when you're really living for christ you will be of the greatest earthly good c.s lewis said quote the christians who did the most for the present world were precisely those who thought most about the next world end quote and i think that's true i mean you think about the great hospitals and the great universities and other things that have been done historically in our country in almost every case at least in their original state they were started by followers of jesus christ and you look at the great relief organizations in the world today they're christian organizations christians are always on the front line wherever people are suffering it doesn't matter if they believe or if they don't believe it doesn't matter if they're christian or if they're muslims or if if they're buddhists we if someone there's a tragedy if there's a calamity christians give christians help christians are always doing these things when's the last time you heard of an atheist relief organization you know heathen purse there's no such thing but there's samaritan's purse isn't there you know non-believers vision no i've never heard of them but i've heard of world vision you know so because they don't care and for the most part there might be some out there there might be some exception but by and large it's believers out there doing this work you see real spirituality is practical and paul was a balanced christian and the most godly men and women i've had the privilege of meeting over the last 40 plus years have always been very down to earth you know not holier than thou kind of people looking down on you but very genuine people often fun-loving people uh people with a self-deprecating sense of humor not that spacey wide-eyed one clown short of a circus look you know what i'm talking about heavenly minded people are gracious they're approachable they're accessible and religious people are just weird i so don't want to be a religious person i you know they get this religious vibe and they talk religiously and they look at you weird religiously it's like just stop and here's my suggestion they were always weird to start with okay their faith in christ did not make them weird they were weird and now they just talk about jesus and they're still weird now maybe they're saved weird i don't know but they're weird okay that's all i know your faith in christ will not make you that person if you have faith in christ and know what it means to live for christ you'll have your feet on the ground but your heart and your thoughts will be in heaven and i think paul is an example of this in so many ways i mean there's no greater example of this than jesus himself you know jesus was a practical man he was god in human form walking among us but jesus lived a real life on planet earth he was a real living human being but he was god walking among us so paul is saying to live is christ and that was pretty much not just paul's motto but i think the motto of pretty much everyone in the early church you know if you look at the church of the first century they changed the world they changed the world they turned the world upside down and imagine it they did it without media you know thomas didn't have a twitter account peter didn't have an instagram page paul didn't have a facebook page but then a lot of followers and a lot of friends and they changed the world that was there at the time the world that was under the rule of rome and it's amazing to think about how they did it the first christians did not out argue the pagans they outlived them they didn't conquer paganism and dead judaism by reacting blow by blow instead the christians of the first century outfought out prayed and outlived the non-believers their weapons were positive not negative they didn't stage protests and they didn't hold boycotts have you ever noticed that they didn't have a campaign to unseat the emperor they would have died if they did that it said they prayed and preached and proclaimed the message of the death of christ on the cross and his resurrection from the dead and they backed up that message with actions to match and they changed the planet they were out there loving and giving and healing and doing all the things god called them to do so the slogan of the first century church the church that changed the world was to live as christ and to die as gains what would the slogan of the 21st century church be what about my needs man something like that maybe you know i go church shopping and i'm going to try to find a church that meets all of my needs or maybe i go to multiple churches well listen if we train people to be consumers instead of communers will end up with customers instead of disciples let me say that again if we train people to be consumers instead of communers we'll end up with customers instead of disciples so this is the church that changed the world and i pray that we could be the church that changes our world as well paul lived for christ but he was human he was not perfect did you know the apostle paul was not perfect he'd get irritated at times uh you know when when he was being mistreated by the high priest servant and actually guy struck him he shot back us might you you whitewash wall guys like would you say i didn't know you're the high priest servant and whatever he got ticked off who likes to get hit in the face not the apostle paul when it was revealed to paul that there were some guys that wanted to kill him paul didn't walk out into the town square and say here i am kill me no he was lowered over the side of the wall in a basket why because paul wanted to live to see tomorrow you know a christian doesn't have a death wish we don't walk around saying man i hope i die today but here's what we do say to live is christ and to die is gain i want to live today and i want to live tomorrow and i want to live as many days as god has given me to live and when that day comes when i'm called to heaven then that day will come but i'm going to do everything i can to live in this day so paul was a practical guy and he cared about the church look at verse 23 i'm hard pressed between the two having the desire to depart and be with christ which is far better but it's important for me to remain in the flesh for you yeah he wanted to help them but notice what he says he says having the desire to depart with christ which is far better listen to this death for a christian is something that's going to happen as it will happen for every person but paul understood that when death came and it did come for him it was a conscious existence not an unconscious oblivion it was to be with christ for me to live as christ to die as gain in other words he was not going to just go into a grave it was a continuation of life not the conclusion of life and that life ahead was a greater and better life death for the believer is a promotion death for the believer is a graduation death for the believer is a coronation bringing me to point number three when you live for christ you're not afraid to die when you live for christ you're not afraid to die again only the person who has said to live is christ and then can then say to die is gain it's interesting the word that paul uses here for departing when he says i have a desire to depart and be with christ it's translated multiple ways one way it's translated is to strike the tent it was a term used to describe what soldiers did you know they'd set up camp and then when it was time to leave they would strike the tent sort of like when you go camping of course camping's a lot more sophisticated now than it used to be some might use tents but you know some have motor homes and motorhomes you know some of these motorhomes are incredible they have big flat screen tvs on the outside you know they have everything that you have in a regular home and they just go park it and kind of do that thing and they say they're camping i don't know if it's really camping but maybe you'll set up a fire you know and then it's time to leave and you'll you'll extinguish the fire and you move on to your next campsite but you know for me i'm not a huge camper i've never loved camping that much my it's sort of like camping to me is very similar to going to the beach my favorite part of camping is getting there and then the next favorite part is leaving you know it's really exciting oh we're camping and then it gets cold and and i want to go home i want a hot shower i want clean clothes you know or going to the beach the best part of going to the beach is when you arrive oh it's the beach and the sun is out and and the waves are looking good and it's fantastic and nobody's here and i just love the beach an hour later you're sweating somebody comes and puts their you know towel right next to you when there's like miles around they're right next to you and they crank up their radio really obnoxious music see goals start invading taking things taking your lunch flying off with your children you know it's just you say i want to go so paul says you know what i'm going to break camp i'm going to strike the tent that's the word he uses here for the party it's interesting because the bible does compare the human body to a tent see your soul will live forever and your body will one day be resurrected into a perfected state but when a believer dies their body the body we live in now goes into the ground but then it's ultimately resurrected but the soul goes immediately into the presence of god but it's interesting that the bible does call our body a tent in fact second corinthians 5 1 says we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down that is when we die and leave these bodies we'll have a home in heaven an eternal body made for us by god himself now look you can do all that you want with this tent you live in you can stretch it and you can paint it and you can do other things to try to make it look younger but it is what it is okay and it's not meant to be a permanent dwelling place it's temporary so that is the very picture used in scripture another word or another way the word departure is translated is being released from shackles and when paul wrote this he was in shackles he was chained to a roman guard so it's like being released from those shackles number three the word is also used to describe untying a boat from its moorings and tying a boat from its moorings so paul is saying hey i'm ready to set sail you know when a loved one leaves us especially if it's unexpectedly there's great sadness and sometimes we feel sorry for them we may have a fun experience a great meal a family reunion whatever it is we'll say oh i i just wish my loved one was with me right now seeing this right now i wish they could be here they'd love it so much do you ever wonder and think if your loved one is in heaven thinking man i wish they could be up here with me right now seeing what i'm seeing i guarantee no one who has gone to heaven would ever want to come back to earth again if given the choice because heaven is so much better and i'll touch on that in just a moment but untying a boat from its moorings that is the picture that he used bringing me to point number four when you live for christ one day you will be with him in heaven when you live for christ one day you'll be with him in heaven look at verse 23 i want to depart and be with christ which is far better and by the way that's a strong superlative form that paul uses which means far far far better much much better or to put it in sort of uh local speak in hawaii mobera bra it's mobera bra it's way way better than what you have here we want to go to heaven we just don't want to die to get there right i heard about an old man who has asked what he wanted said at his funeral he thought about it for a moment and said i wish they would say look he's moving you know as in you're still alive right what do you want at your funeral well why is heaven better than earth it's better because i'm moving from a tent to a mansion i'm moving from a tent to a mansion how many of you remember the tv show the beverly hillbillies you're all very old some of you many of you don't how many of you remember at raise your hand again i say okay a lot more of you how many of you have no idea what i mean when i say the beverly hillbillies okay well this was a show on long time ago and uh you know it's a story of jed clampett and his family and and they uh discover oil and so they moved to beverly hills you know come and listen to a story about a man named jed poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed then one day when he was looking for some food out from the ground came a bubbling crude black gold that is texas tea the next thing you know old jed's a millionaire the kin folks say jed move away from there they say california is the place you ought to be so they loaded up the truck and they moved to beverly hills that is swimming pools movie stars so that that's those are the lyrics i don't ever remember consciously memorizing them and clearly i know them i know other weird lyrics too but i won't go into all those well i like that you know he loaded up the truck and he moved to beverly that's what we'll do we'll leave our broken down shack for a mansion far better than even beverly hills heaven's better because it's immediate heaven's better because it's immediate verse 23 i'll depart and be with christ that's very important because often people ask us what happens when we die you go straight to heaven simple answer the moment you take your last breath on earth you take your first breath in heaven you don't go to a holding tank he just he did not say i'll depart and just kind of hang out for you know a few hundred years i'll depart and go to purgatory or i'll depart and go to a soul sleep no i'll depart and be with christ you go right into the presence of jesus christ many verses affirm this second corinthians 5 8 it says we're confident and i say we're rather willing to be absent from the body and to be present with the lord thirdly heaven is better than earth because all my questions will be answered all my questions will be answered we all have questions in life i heard about a mother who had some questions she invited a bunch of people over to her house for dinner far too many it was a lot more work than she thought it would be but everyone was seated at the table so she asked her little six-year-old daughter if she would say the blessing a little girl said well mommy i don't know what to say and she said well just say what you hear mommy say so the little girl bowed her head and said lord why on earth did i invite all these people here to denver she heard mommy say that i'm sure we have more profound questions than that for god god where were you in this day god why did you let this happen god why didn't you let that happen i have questions for god we all do i really wonder if when i get to heaven i'll have my list lord it's good to be here but i have this list i kind of think once i see him i'll just say never mind it's all good very good but uh we'll know all things in that day first corinthians 13 12 says right now we see him perfectly as in a poor mirror but then we'll see everything with perfect clarity all that i know now as partial and incomplete but then i will know everything completely just that god knows me now and i believe that when i get to heaven i'll spend all eternity learning and learning i don't think it's like god dumps all this knowledge into my brain i'd be like some weird bubble head you know just huge head little body walking around now i think you're learning and learning and growing and discovering all through heaven and then ultimately when heaven comes down to earth again this this is the hope of the christian and only the christian and lastly heaven is better because i'll be with christ be with christ i'll be with him yes you'll be reunited with loved ones that have preceded you yes all your questions will be answered yes you'll trade in your tent for a mansion yes it'll be so much better on every level but yes you will be with christ and that's what makes heaven heaven so wrapping this up what do you live for if you say for me to live is money then for you one day to die is to leave it all behind if you say for me to live is fame then one day for you to die is going to be that you'll be forgotten if you say to me to live is power then i'm telling you one day to die will be for you to lose it all but if you say to live is christ then you can also say to die is king what do you live for you live for something you live for something it gets you up in the morning that fires you up but that's something or that someone that you live for will they be able to save you in the final day see when you live for christ it's win-win it's win-win why because you have heaven guaranteed absolute heaven but this life on earth is life lived to its fullest the christian life is the best life jesus said i have come that you might have life in them were abundantly so he wants to give you a happy fulfilled joyful purposeful meaningful life on planet earth and then the absolute assurance that there's an afterlife for you in his presence in [Music] heaven

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 36,732

Rating: 4.8809834 out of 5

Keywords: harvest, Harvest Christian Fellowship, Greg Laurie Sermons, bible study for me, bible study, youtube sermons, the secret to happiness revealed, greg laurie, the secret to happiness is freedom, how to find happiness, how to find happiness in life, how to find happiness in god, greg laurie live

Id: XUeqR_yjSgU

Length: 87min 56sec (5276 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 25 2021