The World Changer at the End of the World (With Greg Laurie)

[Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] you [Music] [Music] good evening everybody welcome to church yeah that's what I want to see you guys are already on your feet you're ready to go come on why don't we all stand up welcome everybody my name is Jonathan Laurie I'm one of the pastor's here we want to welcome you here to our Thursday night Bible study what a good night to come and worship God and here at I'm a Bible study we have got I tell you what a great night planned for you my dad's gonna be giving the message tonight pastor Greg Lori's gonna be teaching tonight out of Hebrews chapter 11 talking about Noah this is gonna be a message you don't want to miss but before we get too far into the evening we have a very special guest with us tonight a longtime friend is joining us to lead us in worship once again can we please give a warm harvest welcome to phil Wickham come on so good to have you again Phil [Music] phil's we've known Phil for so long and it's just such a great joy to have him be a part of our family here and lead us and worship tonight so before we worship the Lord why don't we all just commit ourselves to the Lord in prayer commit the service of the Lord in prayer would you join me Heavenly Father we thank you for your son Jesus we thank you that we have been adopted into your family because what Jesus did on the cross it allows us to become your children that God you are you are not just some distant creator some omniscient supernatural being no Jesus says you are our Father in heaven Lord we're so thankful that we can approach you as children who have needs and have desires and struggles Lord you're there for us and we ask that tonight as we worship you as we lift your name on high Lord that you'd be pleased with this this sacrifice of praise it'll be a sweet-smelling aroma to you and the Lord we would live our lives in a way that would reflect what you've done inside of us the sacrifice that Jesus made and so Lord bless this time of worship we pray in Jesus name we ask it together and everybody said hey man come on let's welcome Phil lick it one more time [Music] merci [Applause] you could care kind [Music] he was back [Music] on my face hi [Music] max the you come [Music] see my soul [Music] feel [Applause] [Music] come [Applause] [Music] [Music] story rescue my cinnamon but she's I need it share sir I was now you come on see [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] yes is that a really busy second half of the year last year and wasn't able to make it out to this building be part of the heart of harvest fam and I've missed it's here so much and it's so sweet to be back here worshiping with you all in that yeah he's getting some new songs together are gonna be in the studio soon working on some new stuff and this song is kind of risen as a new anthem that I've been loving to sing lately and I'd love to teach it for you guys it says when I fight I fight on my knees with my hands lifted high oh god the battle belongs to you goes like this my needs with my hands lifted high Oh God the battle belongs to me and they're beefy right Lily out of your feet and I'll sing through the night oh god the battle be launched to you so that's it right there we try together in the there in the lyric it says I lift my hands with my hands lifted high I love that posture of worship a sign of surrender a sign of praise and I sign up lifting up God joining with creation maybe one church we could do it as we sing this song when I fight and when I'm fine I meet with my hands if teat hot and Oh God the platter belongs to every field and every and I Oh [Music] nice to me [Music] [Music] you see [Music] see the mountain you seem [Music] [Music] nothing so when I find [Music] [Music] when I Oh [Music] [Applause] you up homie [Music] Jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] all mighty fortress you go before nothing can stand against the power you shining the shadows you in every battle nothing can stand against the power [Music] you can be fun [Music] you study [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we sing it together one more time when I fight singing into the darkness of our families in his church verso into the mountain into the Giants face in front of us we sing it nothing can stand against our God when I phi phi phi don my knees with my the platter belongs to you never your feet [Music] [Applause] [Music] I can smile to come with Jesus play and tire i season his eyes my Savior [Music] and they went out and just yes [Music] ah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] this [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] they're also what I'm pleased inside to Kirsten [Music] gays chance to Jesus we fix our eyes on you the author and finisher my big [Applause] victory [Music] Rafiki that we get stand from a place of victory to seen this today we praise the god come on [Music] shout it out come on Oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] hey man come on give a shout of praise tonight wow you guys can have a seat man what a great time of worship just now hearing you guys sing is so beautiful you know I've been on two sides of the stage where you sit out there and you're hearing the band and you're hearing people around you and it's amazing when I tell you what when you are on the stage and you're hearing all of you proclaim these songs together that is a beautiful thing hearing the church proclaim these things together in unison is awesome we're so glad that you're all here again Thank You Phil for being with us tonight phil Wickham joining us leading us on worship thank you to our team we got a great night plan for you and my dad is going to be talking about Noah tonight one of the heroes of the Bible and Moses and rather Hebrews chapter 11 if you want to turn in your Bibles that are you sure can do that but we just we want to say a special hello to you who might be joining us for the very first time is there anybody coming to harvest Orange County for the very first time maybe your second time would you raise your hand up right here welcome guys good to have you right over there awesome well this church is it's been run for 47 years can you believe that 47 years and this campus here at harvest Orange County we've been operating for about 10 years and we just love to see people worship we love to teach the Bible here and to worship the Lord together and so tonight we are gonna continue doing that and I want to share a couple of just real quick things on what's gonna be going on at the church this week and how you can get a little more involved first of all this Sunday we after third service 12 p.m. so it's gonna be around 1:30 in the afternoon we are gonna be having the first baptism of 2020 and so listen if you have never been baptized and you've committed your life to Christ listen we would so love to invite you to come and be baptized here at harvest Orange County and just make a public Proclamation that you are dying to the old nature that you're coming alive again in Christ that this relationship with the Lord is for real you know baptism is one of the two things that Jesus modeled for us and he told us himself that we should do he told us to observe communion and he told us that we should be baptized and so if you're a follower of Jesus Christ you should come and be baptized and if you have already been baptized come support those that are making this public profession so bolding and going under the water and again that beautiful symbolism there and so come join us for this Sunday a third service again my dad's gonna be teaching here this Sunday he'll share about that in a moment I don't want to steal his announcement but he is gonna be teaching this Sunday morning and we're also gonna have Phil joining us again and so come join us this Sunday which is gonna be great and then that's that's pretty much it for announcements actually there's gonna be a couple other in my dad's message but tonight we also have another very special guest here who is joining us all the way from across the Pacific Ocean can you believe it he flew all the way here from the island of Maui pastor Jim Feltner from harvest coup Milani is here tonight and I'm gonna ask Jim to come on up on the stage it was just a few years ago that we partnered with harvest COO Milani and so my dad asked Jim if you would come up and just give us a quick update on what's going on over there and so let's welcome Jim thanks Jim Aloha everybody it's great to be with you here at harvest Oh see well we're going to continue with our worship in just a couple minutes with our tithe an offering but I wanted to give you as Jonathan just mentioned mentioned a quick little update on what is happening on the island of Maui your campus there your harvest ministry extension all the way in Hawaii in 2016 July 10th we officially launched our harvest partnership with you folks and with Greg Laurie and I tell you it's a it's a decision we have not regretted since day one in the nearly four years that we've been doing ministry on Maui with harvest our Maui church is more than doubled in attendance which has been fantastic so we're growing exponentially and what's great about that is that people are really excited about coming to church they're excited about God and all that he's doing you know lives are being transformed people are getting saved every single week ministry opportunities are abounding and our community is being impacted in a very very vital way you know spiritually spiritually speaking and it's been so amazing and so um what that's done is as our church has grown and as partnership is continuing continuing to flourish it's allowed us the resources to do even more you see we want to see that community we want to see West Maui we want to see the island Shan transformed for the gospel of Jesus Christ because hey Maui isn't all palm trees and sunsets it's beautiful but there's lives over there that need Jesus just like there are lives here in Southern California that need Jesus so thank you guys for investing because you're doing an amazing work there and we're able to meet needs from our keiki our kids all the way to our kupuna our elderly in every age group in between and because we have a goal it's the harvest goal we want to know God and we want to make God known aim into that and so I just wanted to personally thank each one of you I know many of you have come out to our campus I know that many of you support us you pray for us and when you're there you get involved with us and that's so amazing but listen you may think well gosh that's all the way over in Hawaii how do I have a part to play in that listen when you partner here and harvest when you give and you tithe you're extending that Aloha all the way to our campus giving us and allowing us the resources that we need to do all that God has called us to do in the Hawaiian island so I want to personally thank each one of you and I want to give you a scripture from Leviticus chapter 27 verse 30 it says this all the tide of the land whether of the sea to the land or the fruit of the tree is the Lord's it is holy to the Lord and so as we approach this time of our offering I want you to remember this isn't just a financial transaction between you and God that this is actually a holy moment where you actually say God I'm reflecting on my week I'm reflecting on your provision I'm thanking you for my job I'm thanking for the clothes on my back my ability to feed my family that I have a job you know and so that's why the Bible says give that tenth that first fruit to honor him so this is a holy moment between you and the Lord and so my encouragement to you as we approach this time yet again let's make 2020 an amazing year you know we're already four weeks into it you know let's make this decade an amazing year let's watch what God will do not just here in Orange County and in Riverside in Corona and Woodcrest our other campuses and not just Maui but what he wants to do across our land through this ministry and through the exceptional preaching of Greg and in all the great leadership that we have and all the opportunities to serve you so know that you're investing and know that this is a holy moment so bow with me let's pray let's thank God for this opportunity so Jesus we're grateful for all that you're doing not just in Hawaii Lord but also here in Orange County in Southern California across all of our campuses we're thankful for this ministry Jesus that you've um strategically placed here Lord to impact lives to remind us Lord that you are God so we can walk with you we could be strong in you and yet Lord you see beyond even each one of us you love us you want us to be strong in you and you see those who have yet to come to know you and so Lord we want to be about your business evangelizing and proclaiming the great news of Jesus Christ Lord we love you and so we thank you for this holy moment to give to you this worshipful moment to say yes and amen to all your blessings Lord would you use these funds to not only meet the needs of this local church here Lord but to see the needs Lord beyond these walls and light lives will be impacted so we thank you for this time and we ask this in Jesus name Amen [Music] [Music] [Music] sure [Music] you know [Music] your head [Music] don't cry singing [Music] we are [Music] [Applause] [Music] seize your soul what we did tonight [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] like we with [Music] we will see we will see there is no I gotta we we see [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] but we are to above every energy yeah [Music] Yahweh the God of all creation revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ doing the Metis right while we're at [Music] took on human flesh to sympathize with us to reach out to us to know us to lead us to touch the lever to forgive the sinner to carry the week to forgive it's set free freedom in your name Jesus [Music] even if so much reason this singing today [Music] on the earth we shot your place [Music] these bones we say I the Jersey [Music] singing from your heart [Music] they are carry a finger on the come on [Music] because he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we [Music] phil Wickham good to have you back again good seat belt he's a good boy a good boy welcome to church heya when a child grab a seat we have a really exciting event coming up here for the ladies and it's called fervent and it's going to be held at our Riverside campus it's a prayer meeting and Kathy Lori is here hey see let's see if Tim could come back out here really quick would you I need a guitarist thank you very much Kathy Lori where are you Kathy oh here she is come up Kathy and tell us about this great prayer event for the ladies and the reason I have Tim coming out Tim grab your guitar it's time to play happy birthday because it's Kathy's birthday [Applause] here we go hit the court Tim [Music] is this thing on yeah it is [Applause] big bird to happy birthday [Music] happy birth [Music] [Applause] [Music] the best birthday ever I have had the best birthday ever it's just you know what the Lord it just keeps getting better and better every year that goes by because we have one more year of knowing him and for me the greatest blessing I've had since yesterday morning and yesterday night and this morning and then tonight is just spending time with the church I've been with the ladies yesterday and this morning and tonight I'm with all of you and this is just the greatest joy thank you so much for allowing us the privilege really it's a it's the greatest privilege of our lives I mean come on let's eat would it be Monday that we celebrate 46 years Shelley help me sunday sunday she knows better than I do made your friend Shelley Hurley anyway yeah so we're celebrating 46 years and I am 64 so it's like there's fours and sixes all over the place tonight about that oh and I'm 64 you know singing no I don't will you still need me will you still feed me I hope you will okay so fervent if they're not losing your hair okay I know you they come short of the lyric of the song when I get older losing my hair many years from now right what I'm 64 how many of you know that song how many of you don't know what I'm talking about oh my god okay everybody's gotta know the Beatles so I mean really seriously you cannot be an American you cannot live in this century and not know who the Beatles are get with it people and learn their sausage we love the Beatles we Beatles 24 hours a day at our house okay so fervent is coming up February 8th and we were singing filled with singing about fighting the battle on our knees you know what does that even mean what are we talking about the Bible speaks about prayer is a weapon in in Ephesians chapter 6 it says you know put on the armor of God praying and praying constantly with all forms of Prayer and so many of us as Christians don't even know what that means we don't have a discipline of prayer in our own personal lives we don't know what it means to pray together um part of the family God says that when two or more gathered in his name he's there in the midst and if we agree touching anything it would be done by our Heavenly Father in heaven I mean how amazing is that that prayer is really access to the very throne room of God which is the control center of the universe people and the early church met together to hear the word of God preached they met together to take communion and share the Lord's Supper but it also tells us that the early church got together to pray and I honestly had to ask myself recently when as a church are we gathering together as a specific time to lift our knees and boy do we have needs people I mean we all know that in this country we are in dire dire need of a revival and awakening a turning of hearts of healing of families of young people finding purpose and meaning in their lives but you know if we're not praying for those things we are not availing ourselves of the greatest resource that we could ever have and it's free and it's available so we're gonna gather together in Riverside at the Riverside campus if you don't know anything about that come see me at the connect table after this service I want to tell you about it we've done this before and we're gonna spend from 9:00 until noon and the women's ministry at harvest of Orange County and Riverside are hosting this event you're welcome to join us please do make it a priority 2020 is a brand new decade it's a whole new year for us and we're not just gonna be praying for our nation and the world but we're praying for ourselves as individuals and for ourselves as a church so come join us we'd love to have you see me at the connect table I'll tell you all about it afterwards so thank you Kathy coming up also we have some birthday cake for you after the service cupcakes actually and and you can sing Cathy's birthday card okay so let's grab our Bibles and let's turn to Hebrews chapter 11 in Genesis chapter 6 and I can't think of a better way to start than to pray let's pray father our Father in Heaven you hear us right now and I know there's many needs represented in this room and you know every one of those needs and you've told us that will call upon your name you'll hear us and you'll answer us so we're praying now that you will speak to our hearts as we open your word help us to understand how it applies to us help us to live lives that impact our culture more than our culture is impacting us so we commit this time a Bible study to you now in Jesus name we pray amen so we're doing a little series are we calling heroes of the Bible and I wanted to mention this coming Sunday I'm back in the life of Moses and a series excuse me that we're calling a water firestone and we're now to the stone park because we're gonna look at the ten commandments what a relevant message for all of us today for every generation but the title of this message is simply the world changer at the end of the world but first i'm going to tell you about a guy named Jim Bob Jim Bob did not do well in school and so one day Jim Bob's mom came to the school to see how he was doing and Jim Bob's teacher said she had never met a more ignorant and unmotivated student in all of her years of teaching Jim Bob's mama's really angry so she decided not only to pull him out of school but to move out of Kentucky over to California okay fast-forward 25 years Jim Bob's teacher was diagnosed with irreversible cardiac disease the doctor's urger they have open-heart surgery and they told her she should go to the UCLA UCLA Medical Center and there was only one surgeon there that could perform the surgery she needed so she makes a trip to the UCLA Medical Center she goes and has the surgery it's completely successful she opens her eyes and she sees that handsome doctor looking at her and she begins to smile and suddenly her face turns blue and she dies the doctor was shocked wondering what went wrong and the doctor left the room he saw Jim Bob who is now a janitor at the clinic he had unplugged the life-support equipment to plug in his vacuum cleaner some people never change picture right you thought Jim Bob was gonna be the doctor right how many of you thought that was a funny joke how many of you thought it was really kind of weird and it disturbed you okay got your attention though didn't it yeah some people never change well I want to talk about a man that really changed his world he is what we would call a hero of the Bible and he did it during a very dark time in human history maybe the darkest it has ever been I'm talking about the time before the Great Flood when God brought his judgment upon planet Earth Jesus called it the days of Noah and it's relevant to us because Christ said as it was in the days of Noah so also shall it be when the Son of Man returns so Christ is Saint remember how it wasn't Noah's day it's gonna be very similar in the time before my return yet against this very dark background lived a man who walked with God showing you can live a godly life in an ungodly culture and I like to call him a world changer what is a world changer a world changer is someone who does not accept the status quo a world changer as someone that doesn't not Marc in lockstep with current culture rather a world changer wants to change the culture they think for themselves and they do what is right a world changer as a follower of Jesus Christ in the affect their surroundings more than their surroundings affect them and a world changer is someone who wants to make a difference in fact world changers or let me put it another way committed Christians are the true rebels in culture today don't tell me it's rebellious to do drugs and party that's status quo men don't tell me it's rebellious to do what everybody else does and say what everybody else says and be a woke person and conform to pre-existing culture that is changing before our eyes a world changer a real Christian is someone that believes this book and they live by what this book says you want to be a rebel follow Jesus Christ you'll be a real rebel today you don't even need a leather jacket or a motorcycle or your wallet attached to a chain I don't know why bikers always do that you know who's gonna take a bikers wallet anyway but you know but that's real rebellion in the best sense of the word world changers are thermostats not thermometers a thermometer just tell you what the temperature is a thermostat changes the temperature and in the same way a world changer changes the world well the guy want to focus on well everyone knows the story his name was Noah we think of Noah we immediately think of Noah's Ark and that's appropriate but there's a lot more to his life than then but Noah is one of a number of people men and women that are mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11 which has been described as the heroes Hall of faith sort of the rock stars of the Christian world of the Bible culture the people that just stood out and lived as God wanted them to live they're not in the heroes Hall of faith because they were perfect in fact they were far from it they're there primarily because they exercised faith that's the word that keeps pop being up again and again by faith they did this by faith they did that and it just reminds us that you don't have to be a perfect person to be used by God God is not looking for ability he's looking for availability God does not call the qualified he qualifies the called he's just looking for some man some woman young or old to just say all right Lord Here I am send me I want to make a difference in my world I want to make a difference in my family I want to make a difference in my culture I mean look at some of the people God used for a pete's sake I mean there's some people that messed up pretty badly and we think of Abraham Abraham the father of faith yeah he had faith but he stumbled his faith stumbled in his faith at least twice lying to do so Sarah his wife left at the promises of God then she denied that she laughed samp's and he made it into the Hall of faith he was a woman chaser and a pretty immoral guy gideon struggled with fear and self-doubt Rahab was a prostitute david struggle or had an affair and murdered a man to cover it up Elijah the Prophet struggled with depression and wanted to die the Samaritan woman had multiple divorces the disciples fellows she asleep when Jesus asked him to pray Simon Peter denied the Lord three times Timothy had an ulcer Lazarus was dead so what's your Excuse I mean seriously God cannot use you and Noah the guy were gonna focus on for the next two times is a man who got drunk and put himself in a compromising position but God gave him a second chance but here's what MOA MOA who's MOA okay that's a new character I just invented Moses and Noah henceforth known as MOA uh-huh see I always confuse the names of Moses and Noah so if at some point I say Moses disregard that I mean Noah okay but we'll just call him MOA that's kind of cool it's a word that captures it all anyway Samoa or Noah Noah was this brother his lesser-known brother MOA he just build a little rowboat with a hole in it but no I he you know Noah built an ark right but Noah had great faith and a great God I think he's a misunderstood character even caricature of course I seem in cartoons Steve Carell portrayed them for Laughs and Evan Almighty then there was that film where Russell Crowe portrayed no that was one of the weirdest films I've ever seen I think he was channeling glide e8 or more than Noah because there's a scene when he's getting the ark ready to go and people are trying to get in and Russell Crowe as Noah is killing people so they don't enter the ark that's actually not what happened in the Bible the fact is the door to the ark remain open for a long time so anyone who wanted to come could come in fact there's nobody wanted to go in the ark but so there's all these distortions of the story and it's important to go back to what the Bible says so Hebrews 11 tells us this by faith Noah or MOA if you like being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear and prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith so there's several principles in this passage it help us to understand what made Noah tick here's point number one if you're taking notes God revealed secrets to Noah God revealed secrets to Noah Hebrews 11:7 he was divinely warned of things not yet seen see God spoke to him and his faith was activated and I wonder if God has spoken to you lately you know sometimes people say I don't think God ever speaks to me I remember hearing Pastor Chuck Smith tell the story of his grandson who said to his mom mom God never speaks to me she said honey you know when you do something wrong and you feel bad in your heart for doing it he says yeah she says that can be God speaking to you and he paused for a moment and then said mom God speaks to me all the time yeah so what a lot of waste God speaks to us but he does speak to us in the primary way he speaks to us is through the Word of God but God revealed a secret to Noah the Bible says the secret of the Lord is with those that fear Him my grandkids are we're smaller I used to take them to secret places I would say you know we're going to do a restaurant do you want to go in the regular way like all the other people or do you want to go in this secret like Oh they'd get all excited the secret way poppin I just take him in through a side door but they thought it was secret there was this Park that's not far from our house and so I said we can go to the regular Park oh we can go to this other Park I call it the secret Park and that's what we went it's not secret anyone can find it but to this day we still call it the secret park Cathy I am going to walk through the secret park what I think you know but we like secrets right so the secret of the Lord is with those that fear Him God reveals things to Christians that people who are not believers don't understand as an example as a Christian I know that God's Word is true you see the basic Christian in many ways knows more than some of the great intellects of our world because we believe this book and we know because we believe this book that there are certain things that are true and certain things that are not true for instance we know man is not basically good and that's a hard one to believe isn't it oh man's basically good really well the Bible doesn't teach man is basically good the Bible teaches that man is basically sinful now that makes sense and the world makes more sense when I accept the premise we're not basically good we're basically sinful but the Bible also teaches that God is good the Bible teaches that one day judgment will come to the world the Bible teaches that it's gonna get worse before it gets better the Bible teaches that one day Christ will return and he will right every wrong and Jesus even said to the father father thank you that you've hidden the things and revealed them to your children so when you believe the Bible you know things other people don't know and Noah understood that and God revealed secrets to him number two Noah had a great reverence for God he had a great reverence for God I think that maybe this is lacking in our culture today have we become too casual with the Lord have we taken him for granted possibly when it says he moved with godly fear that does not mean that he cowered in fear before God a better way to translate that would be he moved with reverence we need to have reverence for God and one definition of the fear of the Lord that I like is a wholesome dread of displeasing him awesome dread not cowering in fear like God's gonna smack me but rather I love God so much and God is so holy I have this respect for him but maybe we've gone too far the other way you know Jesus is my homeboy man hey off newsflash your homeboy so-called created the universe have a little respect when you talk to him have a little respect when you worship Him have a little respect when you speak his name I've gotten to know dr. James Dobson pretty well over the last few years and I've been with him in a lot of situations and he'll say to me Greg call me Jim and I'll say okay doctor top sending good no no call me Jim and I don't feel comfortable calling him Jim for some reason and I think it's because I respect him so I'll say well dr. Dobson or I want to be super casual I'll say doc listen you know so that I call him that out of respect and and so Noah had this reverence and respect for God and he never lost that reverence for the Lord and so he was a last days believer because he was living in the time before the flood King why did the flood come why did God send judgment on the earth the first time the answer is found in Genesis 6 I want you to turn over there if you would Genesis 6 if you don't know where that is it's right after Genesis five hang a hard left and go all the way and you will find Genesis six first book of the Bible Genesis 6:5 gives us a description of the world in the days of Noah then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and at every thought rather every intent of his thoughts was only evil continually you might underline that only evil continually and the Lord was sorry he made man on the earth and he was grieved in his heart I'd underline that too I'll come back to it so the Lord said I'll destroy man whom I've created from the face of the earth man and beast creeping thing and birds of the air I'm sorry I made them I'll stop there what exactly was going on here in Planet or to bring God's wrath so heavily Genesis 6:5 gives the answer the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually I'm just amazed at the things I read in the news today you know the news feeds just the atrocities the the horrible acts that people do against people it's just endless and you know I don't even have to illustrate this it's just heartbreaking it's disturbing and it just seems like people find new ways to do evil things and that's what was happening at this time but you know what this shows us is God is aware of the wickedness of man he's paying attention and their wickedness is full to the brim would be a better translation sort of like an overflowing trash can or a septic tank you know it's bad it was stinking to high heaven it was so bad you know it's interesting the book of Genesis can be divided into three sections generation degeneration regeneration generation degeneration regeneration so first it was generation when God created all things and said it was good then degeneration that's when sin entered into the garden when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit then regeneration we're at Phase two here degeneration and God said he's grieve now it's interesting that the word grieved is used here in verse six you only grieve for those who love you don't grieve when some random person cuts you off on the road you get angry maybe upset but it doesn't grieve you it grieves you when your child is disrespectful or goes astray or someone you love or care about says or does something that hurt you you're grieved only by the people you love right so the fact that God uses the word grieve shows us that this is hurting the heart of God because he loves humanity God takes no pleasure in bringing judgment on anyone you remember Jesus looked over the city of Jerusalem and he wept over them because he knew they were effectively bringing judgment on themselves and we read in Luke nineteen forty one he saw the city and wept over it said o Jerusalem if you had only known this your day the things that made for your peace let me ask you a question have you ever shed a tear for someone who is far from God if you ever shed a tear over a prodigal son or daughter over a prodigal mom or dad over someone you care about that's going the wrong way god takes no pleasure in judging people the Bible tells us in Ezekiel 33 the Lord speaks and says I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but I want the wicked to turn from their way and live turn from your evil ways why will you die God says so people of Israel so then our immediate response says well then why does God said judgment okay here's the answer you ready God sends judgment because he is loving and just no no how could a God of love judge anyone that's our default response now I'm telling you God sends judgment because he's loving and just let me illustrate let's say that you a small toddler playing in your backyard and suddenly a wolf appeared climbed over your fence fangs showing and was running full speed toward your daughter toward your child toward your son what would you do I would like love the wolf no no kill the wolf right stop the wolf why because you love your child you love your child more than anyone or anything else or if they came to harm your spouse or harm someone you care about you protect that bird no the wolf is our brother another wolf is not your brother the wolf's a wild animal and you need to stop thinking crazy thoughts like that alright so because you love your child you protect them you hate that which would harm your child so in effect you bring judgment so the question about God is well if God's judging that's not love you know it's loving because he's just and he's given us his standards and we'll talk about them on Sunday and the 10 commandments among other places but their wickedness was great they just wouldn't stop it just became more and more intense what weight did these people have an opportunity to believe there was a news story out a few days ago Aaron Rodgers quarterback for the Green Bay Packers apparently was raised in a Christian home but he had some issues with his Christian faith and he said in the interview and I quote I remember asking a question as a young person about a young person about somebody in a remote rainforest in other words what if someone's you know isolated from everybody else and they've never heard the gospel that's basically the way it's asked they're in a rainforest or in a desert always for some reason and I and they said the response I got was if you don't confess your sins you're going to hell and he says and I said what about the people that don't have a Bible readily accessible listen to this God is going to judge people according to the light that they have received but I suggest you we've received a lot more light than people realize as an example we have the light if you will of nature just the handiwork of God surrounding us speaking of his power and his creative ability I mean to me it takes more faith to say there's no God and this all happened randomly than it takes to say I believe that there's a creator behind all of these things have any of you ever seen the Sistine Chapel raise your hand if you have a few people quite a few of you okay pretty magnificent right well how did that even come to be well we all know Michelangelo painted it took him a long time what have I told you well I don't believe a guy named Michelangelo painted it I think there was a bucket or a wagon full of buckets of paint somebody threw a stick of dynamite in it and it blew up I call it the Big Bang Theory and the beautiful fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel up here you think what are you crazy oh you see that 747 over there that wasn't created by the engineers at Boeing I believe that there was a tornado in a junkyard and that's the result you would dismiss me as a lunatic but yet we'll take something that's amazing as creation or even the human body and say well it happened randomly I have a hard time seeing that I think it takes more faith to not believe than it takes to believe Romans 1:18 says God shows his anchor from heaven against wicked people who push the truth away from their self because he's put this knowledge in their heart from the time the world was created people have seen their earth and the sky and all that God made so they have no excuse for not knowing God and by the way at this time Earth was in much better shape than it is now now if you go to a beautiful place like Hawaii you see the handiwork of God and a sunset people just sit out there and wait for the Sun to set it's just so amazing that's something the Lord does for us but at this time historically things were still in a quasi eat-in like state we weren't as far from we're closer to God's original crease and then we are so the the power of God was on display then all of that number two we have the testimony of conscience are the light of conscience romans 2:14 says even when non-believers who do not have God's written law instinctively follow what the law says they show in their hearts they know right from wrong because God's law is written with them in them in their own consciences accusing them or telling them what they're doing this right so you say what about the person who's never heard the gospel well you have the testimony of nature and you are the testimony of your own conscience you know instinctively what right and wrong are and so many of us don't even live according to those dictates some will say I don't like organized religion what does that even mean I don't like organized religion oh do you like disorganized chaos instead and what's your definition of organized religion praying a prayer opening the bioriod don't get anything organized okay so what do you live I live by my own standards I suggest you don't even live by your own standards I think you break your own rules so you make new rules huh and then you break those don't you so you have the testimony of nature you have the testimony of your own conscience and these people had the promise of a redeemer God had revealed to Adam and Eve there was coming one who had crushed the head of the serpent who had deceived them and of course that was a reference to the arrival of Jesus and fourthly they had the people of the godly lives of Adam and Eve even though Adam and Eve sinned they still walked with the Lord after this so they had that testimony and so God will judge you according to the light you have received point number three Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord Genesis six eight says simply that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord now does that mean God had Grace on Noah because he lived a righteous life no actually it's the reversal of that the word grace means God's unmerited favor because he received God's grace he responded to the grace that God extended toward him he experienced it God loves us and wants a relationship with us so he found grace or favor in the eyes of the Lord look the only way a person comes into a relationship with God is by admitting their own need and that's hard for a lot of people we don't want to say I need God I'm strong I can do this on my own Aaron Rodgers in that interview went on to say you know I think that Christianity is a crutch crutch it's a whole Hospital man I need more than a crutch I need everything I need every piece of equipment in that spiritual hospital I have no shame in saying I need God I'm not embarrassed to say I depend on God and we all should so judgment was about to come and I wonder if there's somebody here that has had a wake-up call lately something that's happened in your life that's gotten your attention everything was going great and then you got the call from the doctor and everything changed everything was fine then your wife your husband your boyfriend your girlfriend broke up with you your dog even left you but the cat won't leave for some reason and you really want the cat to leave and you wanted the dog to stay even more than your girlfriend frankly whatever it is something's happened or you've had a Crow's close brush with death I think we've all had a big wake-up call and the tragic death of Kobe Bryant it's really gotten the attention of our culture I never met Kobe but I saw him around town all the time he was you'd see him I summon 31 flavors I saw him at Barnes & Noble over a Fashion Island he was usually with his kids he was living around this area and in fact this Saturday excuse me this Sunday Saturday night before he died in that tragic helicopter crash he was with his kids at Fashion Island over at the koi pond there and then Sunday morning before he went on his trip he went to church with his daughter and but but this is just such a shocking event and why even if you're not a sports fan it's shocking well he's an iconic person he's a person that sort of in the public consciousness we're aware of him he's young he's athletic he's successful and in a jolts people you know an earlier generation my generation we were affected dramatically by the assassination of President Kennedy it almost happened in real time before our very eyes and in fact the the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald the man who shot President Kennedy happened on live television so we're like watching this trying to process it in this guy who killed Kennedy he's shot in front of our eyes so fast-forward to lady to princess died and that was a big event for that generation I experienced both of those and I think for a lot of younger people it's like wow Kobe was only 41 years old very successful one of the greatest basketball players of all time a living legend and when we think of him and his daughter and the other passengers aboard that flight we think why did that happen why why did they not get to go home that night and why do others get to wake up in the morning I don't have answers for that but I think there's three things we should keep in mind when something like this happens number one remember that life is precious life is precious I have an Apple watch right here funny thing with this crazy watch it periodically says to me breathe it's like I'm breathing it's even said it to me when I'm like working out breathe like what's wrong with you but I think there's a good message there breathe right that breath you're trying right now that's a gift from God because there might be someone in a hospital room struggling hoping for that next breath but I just breathe in I breathe out that's a gift from heaven and I shouldn't take it for granted every day of my life a gift from God every single heartbeat it's a blessing don't take your health for granted don't take your family for granted the Bible reminds us in Psalm 90 teaches to realize the brevity of life so we may grow in wisdom Coby was a very successful man with many beautiful things but I'm sure he would have traded at all for another precious day of life he was not given that choice don't take life for granted number two don't ask why ask who don't ask why ask ooh 11 years ago our son Christopher was killed in an automobile accident it was crushing devastating I wondered if I would even survive it it was so massive for both Cathy and myself and our son Jonathan and Christopher's wife Britney it was just life-altering and it's like time Stood Still for all of us and if words could have killed you I mean hearing certain information that could have killed me I felt like literally I could have died it was so overpowering but in my time of weakness when I needed the crutch I needed the hospital I needed intensive care and I called out to the Lord and guess what he was there for me and he sustained me on that day and sustains us all to this day because the Bible says he's the God of all comfort some things sometimes things happen in life that are unfair and tragic and we want an answer I I demand an answer I want to know why if God told you you wouldn't be happy I mean if the Lord said I'll run all right I'm tired of you asking why I'm gonna tell you why are you ready write this down okay I'm ready ready here's why I don't agree with that you wouldn't like it it wouldn't make sense to you this side of heaven we live on promises not explanation so we should not spend too much time wondering why instead of saying why we should say who as in who do I turn to you turn to the Lord and you cry and you cry it's okay to cry it's good to cry in fact you must mourn when you've lost a loved one in fact if you do not properly mourn the loss of a loved one it can affect you in a very bad way because you cry out to God you bring your pain to God you bring your sorrow to God and then the last thing is we must prepare we must prepare life is precious don't ask why ask ooh we must prepare death is not a respecter of persons it doesn't care if you're rich or poor religious or you have no faith at all if your famous infamous are not known it docks at every door and will not get your door it'll not get mine it's not the end because there's an afterlife we talked so much about this life but the afterlife goes on forever in fact this life that before life if you will is pretty short when compared to the afterlife and Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life and he that believes in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die that is why Jesus died on the cross you see at the cross he defeated sin but at the resurrection he defeated death death died when Christ rose so my question for you is are you prepared for the afterlife as I close I told you the story before of a man who was walking through a graveyard and he saw tombstone and on it were inscribed these words Paz no stranger as you pass by as you are now so once was I as I am now so you will be so prepare for death and follow me the man was overheard to say to follow you is not my intent until I know which way you went are you prepared for the afterlife what if this were your last night on earth will it won't be how do you know you don't know no one knows the Bible says it's appointed unto a man wants to die and then comes in judgment God's appointed the hour he doesn't reveal to us frankly I'm glad I don't know r2 we don't know could be tonight it could be 10 years 20 years 50 years 7080 years I don't know God knows I don't worry about that but be ready be prepared heaven is a prepared place for prepared people and then one day I'll stand before God and the Bible says and the books will be open and a book will be open which is the book of life and the key is you want your name written in the book of life how do you get your name written in the book of life by believing in Jesus Christ if you've put your faith in Christ and you've asked him to be your Savior and Lord your name's and the book and no one's taking your name out of the book you're good to go but then there's the books books are gonna be open and I wonder what's in the books you know the Bible doesn't say maybe one book is a book of all the times you heard the gospel and blew it off maybe another book is a record of how you had your own standards that you didn't even live by maybe another book is all the commandments you Brookman I don't know what's in the books but whatever it is it's not real good because you're even at this great white throne judgment that's bad but you don't have to be there at all you see Jesus died on the cross and he absorbed the wrath of God in your place so you don't have to deal with it he died there for you he as I've said many times he came to pay a debt he did not owe because we ordered debt we could not pay Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord you can have this grace in your life because the Bible says for by grace you are saved through faith not of works lest any man should boast you're not gonna get to heaven because of all the good stuff you've done you're gonna get to heaven because of this sacrifice Jesus made for you on the cross and you admitted you're a sinner and you turn from your sin and you believed in him then you can know listen you can know that you'll go to heaven do you know that right now if not why would you not want to get this resolved frankly is there anything more important than that that you could think of anything then where you'll spend eternity and so I want to close with just an opportunity for anybody here anybody watching listening wherever you may be to make sure your name is written in the book of life to put your faith in Jesus Christ he stands at the door of your life and he knocks and he says if you'll hear his voice and open the door he will come in if you've never asked Jesus to come into your life you can do it right here right now and you can be prepared for the afterlife and not be afraid of death any longer if you need to respond to this invitation please do it now as we pray father I ask you to speak to the heart of every person every man every woman every boy every girl every person listening watching wherever they are if they don't know you let this be the moment they believe I pray that your Holy Spirit will convict them of their sin convince some of their need for Jesus and Lord bring them to yourself right now now all our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying how many of you would say tonight I need Jesus I want my sin forgiven I want to know with certainty that I will go to heaven when I die pray for me listen if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life if you want him to forgive you of your sin if you want to go to heaven when you die if you want your guilt taken away if you want this fresh start in life I've been talking about in a relationship with God wherever you are I want you to raise your hand up and I'm gonna pray for you if you need Jesus in your life tonight you want to go to heaven when you die you want to start this relationship with God raise your hand up I'm gonna pray for you God bless you God bless you God bless you there in the back anybody else raise your hand up high where I can see it please god bless you here in the front row anybody else raise your hand up let me pray for you god bless you god bless you to come bless you god bless you anybody else the Lord speaking to you right now I talked to you earlier that God wants to speak to us he might be speaking to your heart if you're not right with God if you don't have this assurance that you go to heaven you die you can have it but you got to reach out and ask for it let me pray for you raise your hand up if you haven't raised it yet if you need Jesus in your life tonight god bless you god bless you well their heads are still bowed maybe someone would say you know I've I've drifted I've fallen away I know it's right but I have not been walking with the Lord as they ought to and I need to come back to him I'm our prodigal son I'm a prodigal daughter pray for me tonight if you need to make that recommitment to Jesus why don't you raise your hand up right now and let me pray for you god bless you anybody else raise your hand up high where I can see it god bless you god bless each one of you father I pray you give these folks a strength to stand up and falling you now in Jesus name Amen hey listen to this everyone that Jesus calls he calls openly and publicly and in a moment our worship group is going to do a song of invitation and I'm going to ask if you raise your hand with me during that last moment of prayer saying that you want Jesus in your life I'm going to ask that when this song starts that you'll get up out of your seat and step into an aisle and walk up here to the front and when you all get here I'll lead you in a prayer of commitment or recommitment why don't I ask you to come forward like this because jesus said if you will acknowledge meeting four people I'll acknowledge you before my father in the angels in heaven but then he said if you deny me before people I'll deny you before the father in the Angels so even if you did not raise your hand you can make this public stand so again if you raise your hand even if you did not but you want your sin forgiven you want Christ to come into your life you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die you want your guilt taken away or you want to make a recommitment to Jesus Christ right now as these guys sing get up out of your seat come on down to the front and when you get here I'll lead you in prayer get up and start coming right now come on Stan appear [Applause] [Music] is called have you come to the so three from Jesus's car [Music] come to me [Music] he is [Music] [Applause] there might be a few more of you that want to make this commitment God's speaking to your heart right now this is your moment you have an appointment with God don't miss this appointment anybody else if you raise your hand even if you did not you want Christ to come into your life you know you want to make this recommitment to him god bless you guys get up and come now [Music] [Applause] [Music] anybody else come on [Applause] [Music] crisis [Music] see Christ is all right now you that have come forward I want to lead you in a simple prayer and I'm gonna ask you to pray this out loud after me this is where you're asking Jesus Christ to come into your life and forgive you of your sin and listen you'll hear this prayer and he's gonna answer this prayer because the Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved let's say you're out in the ocean you got caught in a Riptide you're in trouble there's a lifeguard what are you gonna do just think help no you cry out help don't come so in prayer you're calling out to God that's what you're doing you're seeing God help and you'll hear you and answer it if anybody else is sitting out there and you didn't come down here but you know you need Jesus you pray this prayer right where you are as well you guys watching online you can pray this prayer too so let's all bow our heads and I want you to pray this out loud after me pray these words please Lord Jesus I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead I turn from my sin and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my savior and Lord as my god and friend thank you for hearing this prayer in answering this prayer in Jesus name I pray amen all right god bless you guys I bless you good listen ah I have a Bible to give you this is sort of the old version why don't you hand me the new version would you come on over here thank you this is the old one here's a new one we want to give you the new one all right so this is called the new believers Bible and it saw the New Testament in a very friendly translation with a bunch of notes that I wrote that will encourage you in this commitment or recommitment you've made to Christ I want to give you one of these to take home over to my left your right here's one of our counselors nice looking guy there no shirt it's good when people wear shirts right burgundy shirt okay just he's gonna give you this Bible and we're gonna talk with you a little bit about what you've just done so if you would all of you folks standing up here turn to your right go right over there right over that way god bless you guys all right let's all stand up who wants to hear another song from Phil Whitcomb all right let's do it [Music] we would have seen you [Music] [Music] see [Music] [Applause] [Music] the cries [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] hey man hey I told you it's gonna be a good night it was wasn't it yeah a good time of Bible study a great time of worship hey what god bless you guys again just want to let you know hey happy birthday mom go get some cake and there's a card out there too and both connections go sign your card and say thank you and happy birthday her weed so appreciate it god bless you guys we'll see you this Sunday [Music]

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 44,182

Rating: 4.8189845 out of 5

Keywords: greg laurie sermons, end of the world, world changer, end of days, greg laurie 2019, greg laurie sermons 2019, Greg Laurie, how to be a world changer, are we at the end of the world, what the bible says about the end times, teachings on the end times, what does jesus say about the end times

Id: XEfgHa6PyAI

Length: 96min 14sec (5774 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 30 2020