A New Beginning

By then, you mean Jesus could come back soon. But how soon? Pastor Greg Laurie addresses that question today here on A New Beginning.

Greg Laurie: We were praying back in 1970 that Jesus would come back. You say, "Greg, wasn't your timing a little bit off?" Yeah, maybe we were a little early. But guess what? It impacted us in the way that we lived. Consider this: we've never been closer to the return of Jesus Christ than we are right now. He is coming back again. I still believe it.

Guest (Male): In 2nd Peter 3, we read, "The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed but wants everyone to repent."

Some people accepted Christ yesterday. Good thing the Rapture didn't happen the day before yesterday. Coming up on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us learn all we can about the Rapture, that great event when we're suddenly caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

Greg Laurie: Why don't you grab your Bibles and turn to 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4. The title of my message is Revival and the Rapture. We're talking about the Jesus Revolution. In the day, we called it the Jesus Movement, but either phrase is great because it was about Jesus.

It wasn't called the God Revolution, though God did it. It wasn't called the Bible Revolution, though we read the Bible a lot and still do. It was called the Jesus Revolution because it was about Jesus. Sometimes in the church, we forget what our message is. Our message is Jesus Christ.

What is a revolution? Generally, we think of a revolution in a negative sense, like an upheaval. It can be that, but this was a positive revolution. The word revolution also means a turning around, a rotating, or a returning to something. What is it a return to? It's a return to New Testament Christianity.

It's a return to being like the church of the first century that turned their world upside down. That's why we call it a revival. To revive is to restore to original condition. Once someone asked the great evangelist Billy Sunday about revival. He said, "They tell me a revival is only temporary." He said, "So is a bath, but it will do you some good." Some of you need to take that literally, and I won't say who.

We need a revival. We need a bath, if you will, a cleansing, a returning to something that God did many years ago. The first-century church rocked the world. It was G. Campbell Morgan who said, "Organized Christianity that fails to make a disturbance is dead." That's true.

Everywhere the Apostle Paul went, there was either a riot or a revival. Sometimes I wonder if it's time to rescue Jesus from modern-day Christianity. One person put it this way, and I love it: "Revival is when God gets so sick and tired of being misrepresented, He shows up Himself." We're saying, "Lord, do that again."

There were some earmarks of the Jesus Movement, things that I remember. One of them was a sense of expectancy in the services. No one was ever late for church because if you were, you wouldn't get a seat. There was a sense that God is going to do something here in this service. We came with open hearts and with open Bibles.

I think it's very important the way we go to church, that we come saying, "I want God to speak to me today. I'm open to that." It was a move of the Holy Spirit. The Jesus Movement was the Holy Spirit of God working through the Word of God in the hearts of the people of God. It was a work that He did then, and it's a work He still wants to do today.

There was one other thing we talked a lot about back in those days: the return of Jesus Christ. It was in a lot of messages. You say, "Greg, wasn't your timing a little bit off? What was that, 45 years ago?" Yeah, maybe we were a little early. But it impacted us in the way that we lived. Consider this: we've never been closer to the return of Jesus Christ than we are right here, right now. He is coming back again. I still believe it.

We're going to see what the Bible says about what I believe is the next event on the prophetic calendar. It's called the Rapture. You've heard that before. Some people would say you can't find the word Rapture in the Bible. That's true in a way. But you can't find the word Bible in the Bible, nor can you find the word Trinity in the Bible. Those are all things that we know are true.

Let's understand what the Rapture is. There's a Greek word, *harpazo*, that's used many times in Scripture. This word *harpazo* describes a catching up of people into the presence of the Lord. If you have a Latin translation, it's translated *rapturo*, where we get our English word Rapture from.

I don't care if you call it the Rapture or if you call it the *harpazo*. Call it the "great escape" if you want to. Whatever you call it, it's a real biblical event. Jesus said in John 14, "In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. If I go, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, you may be also." That word "receive" is *harpazo*. I'll catch you up into heaven.

It is a real event that is coming. In my understanding of Bible prophecy, it could happen at any moment. Looking at the big picture, I think the next event on the prophetic calendar is the Rapture. On the heels of that will be the emergence of a world leader who will be charismatic, a great peacemaker, and come about with economic solutions. In reality, the Bible says he will be the Antichrist.

The prefix "Anti" doesn't just mean against; it also means "instead of." He'll come as a false messiah. Some people will think he is the messiah. He'll rebuild the third temple in Jerusalem, and then ultimately, he will perform what is called the abomination of desolation, where he erects an image of himself and commands people to worship him.

That marks effectively the halfway point of the seven-year Tribulation period. The Tribulation period ends with the battles of Armageddon. Then Christ comes back in the Second Coming. Then there's the Millennial reign of Jesus, which lasts for a thousand years. Finally, heaven comes to earth, the New Jerusalem, like a bride waiting to meet her groom.

This moment, this event, this Rapture could happen at any time. That brings us to our text. 1 Thessalonians 4:16: "The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. And then we which are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words."

This phrase "caught up" is from the Greek word *harpazo*. That word is used 13 times in the New Testament. It means to take forcibly, to snatch, or to catch up. Here are a few questions. Why is there a Rapture? Paul gave this teaching in response to the believers in Thessalonica who had loved ones die and wondered if they would ever see their loved ones again.

Paul is telling them they are going to be reunited with their loved ones. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13, he says, "We don't want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who have died so that you will not grieve as those who have no hope." It's a very important thing Paul is saying. We don't want you to be uninformed, brothers.

He talks about Bible prophecy. I bring this up because sometimes people say no one can understand these things and so it's just a waste of time to even try. Why would Paul have said, "We don't want you to be uninformed, brothers," if God did not want us to know about the events that are coming?

Coming back to that event I mentioned, the abomination of desolation, Jesus referred to it in Matthew 24 and said, "And when you see the abomination of desolation," then he adds, "let the reader understand." We need to understand what these things mean. In the Book of Daniel, it is said that the understanding of Bible prophecy will increase in the last days. One of the signs of the end times is we'll have a better understanding of what all of these things mean.

We often talk about the Book of Revelation. What does Revelation mean? It means the unveiling. It is God's desire to reveal, not to conceal. Then Paul goes on to say, "Comfort one another with these words." Why? Because when a loved one dies, we miss them. Many of you have loved ones in heaven right now.

My wife Kathy and I do. Our son is there, our mothers are there, and my father is there. That connects you to heaven. You think about it. You wonder about having conversations with them and what it will be like to be reunited. This is what Paul is saying, and this is why this should comfort us.

He says we'll be caught up together to meet them in the air. Who? Loved ones who have preceded us. I was talking with a dear saint the other day, actually yesterday. She's 95 years old. She wanted to know, when she dies, what happens to her body and what happens to her spirit?

I said, when you die, your spirit goes into the presence of God and your body goes into the ground. But at the Rapture, your body's going to be resurrected. Your body will be resurrected in a perfected state. That's when all that is going to happen. This is this great hope.

The Rapture could happen in our lifetime, but we need to always be ready to meet the Lord. You either get to heaven through Rapture or you get to heaven through death. I don't care; I'm just going to go to heaven. The idea is to be ready. This brings comfort to you because you know you'll see your loved ones again.

Imagine what it would be like to suddenly be reunited with a loved one you'd been cut off from for so long and to be in their presence again. Husbands reunited with wives, wives reunited with husbands, parents reunited with children, children with parents, brothers with sisters, friends with friends. That event is going to happen, and it's a glorious event.

It's not so good for people that don't believe. Jesus said two men will be in a field; one will be taken, the other left. Two will be sleeping in a bed; one will be taken and the other left. Watch, therefore, for you don't know what hour the Lord is coming. This is a scary thing, but there will be people that will be left to face the Tribulation period because they've not put their faith in Jesus Christ when the Rapture occurs.

Guest (Male): Hey everyone, I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a Harvest version of Netflix. We have all of our resources in one place. We have our movies like Steve McQueen: The Salvation of an American Icon, Johnny Cash: Redemption of an American Icon, A Rush of Hope, and much more. We have our television program, daily devotions, and much more. So go and download the Harvest Plus app.

We're talking about the Rapture today. Pastor Greg is bringing a message called The Rapture and Revival, part of his series titled Jesus Revolution. Pastor Greg continues now.

Greg Laurie: When is the Rapture? This is one that people have asked for many years. When is it? Here's what Jesus says: "No one knows the day or the hour, not even the angels nor the Son, only the Father." If you were to go back to the original language and translate that, it would come out to say no one knows the day or the hour.

What it means is no one knows the day or the hour. Why do I say that? Because every now and then, someone comes along and says, "I've cracked the code. I know when the Rapture is." No, they don't. No one knows the day or the hour. It could happen today, tonight, tomorrow, in a month, a year, or a decade.

We don't know when it will happen, but we want to watch and be ready. But I'll tell you this: when it happens, it will happen so quickly you can't even measure it in time. We're told over in 1 Corinthians 15, "I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. At the last trumpet, the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

The twinkling of an eye, not even the blinking of an eye. How long is the twinkle of an eye? I don't know. It's from the Greek word *atomos*. We get our English word "atom" from it. It's something that's very small. I guess the twinkling would take as long as it would take to say the word *atomos*. It's just that fast.

Some will say, "I'll accept Christ when the Rapture happens." Really? You better be fast. You see people getting raptured—"Lord Jesus"—oh, that's way too long. "Lord"—no, too long. You'll be left behind, and you don't want that to happen. Why is it important to believe this? If I believe it—and I really should if I believe the Bible—it'll have an effect on me spiritually.

1 John 3 says, "He that has this hope purifies himself, even as He is pure." If I really believe this, it's going to impact me in decisions I make, things that I do, everything really. Someone once asked the great evangelist D.L. Moody, "If you knew the Lord would return tonight, how would you spend the rest of the day?" Without hesitation, he said, "I wouldn't do anything different than I do every day."

This is the whole point. If I really believe this, have I told anyone about Jesus? Do I know relatives, friends, or others that need to hear this good news? Live every day as though it were the last day because one day it will be. Martin Luther once said there are two days in my life: there's this day and there's that day. That day he was referring to was the return of the Lord.

We want to be ready. Why has Jesus not already come back? Let me take a quick poll. How many of you have become a Christian since 1970? You've accepted Christ since 1970. Raise your hand. Okay, that's a lot of you. I would even say a majority of you.

We were praying back in 1970 that Jesus would come back. Aren't you glad He didn't answer our prayer? It says in 1 Peter, "The Lord is not late as some men count lateness. He's long-suffering toward us, listen, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

The Lord is waiting for the final people to believe. It's even possible that somewhere on this earth, possibly even in this service or watching somewhere, is that final person the Lord is waiting for to get saved, and then the Rapture is going to happen. Can you imagine if you knew who that person was?

Would you be tempted to apply pressure like, "Dude, could you get saved now so we can get out of here?" The Lord is waiting because He loves us. He wants us to have a relationship with Him. But here's our prayer: when that day happens, only the Lord knows. But we want Him to send at least one more spiritual awakening to America. We need a fifth awakening. I would be so bold as to say we even need a sixth and seventh, should the Lord tarry.

Revival can happen for you right here, right now. We can talk about how the church needs revival, but you can just ask yourself the question: do you need revival? Do I need revival? What is revival? It's being restored to original condition. If you want to see a revival, you should do revival-like things.

We're remembering things, things that happened before, and we're saying, "Do it again." In the same way, if you want to see revival in your life, do revival-like things. In Revelation Chapter 2, Jesus talks to the church. He says, "I know you guys are discerning, you work hard, and you test those who say they are apostles and are not. But I have this against you: you've left your first love."

Remember therefore from where you have fallen and do the first works quickly. It’s very interesting he uses the phrase "where you have fallen." We think of falling away from the Lord as something dramatic, like they abandoned their faith and they're doing all these horrible things now. Yeah, that's a form of it.

But Jesus said if you've left your first love, you've fallen. It's sort of like a slow-motion fall. It's not as dramatic, but it's still falling. Remember from where you have fallen, then do the first works quickly. So the three R's of revival, the three R's of getting right with God, are remember, repent, and repeat.

Go back and do those things again. I heard about a lady that wanted to divorce her husband. But she didn't want to just divorce him; she wanted him to suffer. She went to an attorney and said, "What can I do when I divorce my husband to bring the most pain possible?" The lawyer said, "I have the solution."

He said, "For the next six months, I want you to smother your husband with affection. Tell him how wonderful he is, how responsible he is, how much you respect him, and how much you care for him. Then at six months, hit him with the divorce papers. He won't know what hit him and it'll make his life miserable." She said, "I'll do it."

She told her husband how much she loved him, how great he was, how much she respected him, and how much she adored him. The lawyer calls at six months and says, "Okay, let's get this divorce going." She says, "Divorce? We're going on our second honeymoon."

The point is she was doing what she should have been doing all along. In the same way, if we want revival, just do revival-like things. If you want to restore a marriage that's failing, bring the romance back in your marriage. Do the things you did in the beginning. The same is true of your relationship with God.

I wonder if some of us need revival in our lives. It can happen. We just say, "Lord, I need to be restored to that original condition. I need to get back to that walk I once had with You." There's some of you here that might have been around in the days of the Jesus Movement. That's great. What a wonderful thing that was.

But this is now. How's your relationship with God now? Are you walking with the Lord today? Are you ready for His return now? If not, this is a great opportunity to get right with God. If you want to be sure that you're ready to meet the Lord, if you want to be confident that you'll be ready to be caught up to meet Him in the air, you need to ask Jesus Christ to come into your life.

He died on the cross for you 2,000 years ago. He shed His blood for you. He paid the price for every sin you've ever committed. If you'll put your faith in Him and ask Him to forgive you, you can be confident your sin is forgiven and you can know for certain that you'll go to heaven when you die. You can also know for certain you'll be ready for the Rapture. You'll be Rapture-ready.

If you are not sure if you are now, here's an opportunity for you to make that commitment or recommitment to Christ. Let's all pray together. Father, I pray now for every person that is watching. If they don't know You, Jesus, if they're not right with You, help them to get right with You, we ask. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer. If you'd like to make a change today in your relationship with the Lord, Pastor Greg will help you do that in just a moment. Are you receiving Pastor Greg's daily devotions? They're a great way to start your day with extra insight and inspiration. Sign up for his devotions today at harvest.org. Also, follow Pastor Greg on Facebook. Just go to facebook.com/harvest.greglaurie.

Pastor Greg, today you wrapped up your message by talking about eternity. How can someone listening know that they're going to heaven?

Greg Laurie: That's a great question. I guess let me take it a step further. I know that is the most important question you can ask. How can a person know that they're going to heaven? Let me say at the outset, I believe I'm going to heaven. In fact, I'll take it a step further: I know I'm going to heaven.

You say, "Greg, isn't that kind of arrogant?" Not really. Because I know this because God has made a promise to me and I've believed that promise. The Bible says, "We write these things to you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life." I've believed on the name of the Son of God, thus I know I'll go to heaven when I die.

Here's my question to you: do you believe on the name of the Son of God? Is there any more important issue than that? I can't think of one. So I'd like to lead you in a simple prayer. This is a prayer where you will be asking Jesus to forgive you of your sin and you'll be asking Him to be your own Savior, friend, Lord. It's a prayer only you can pray. Pray these words if you would:

Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. But I know that You are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose from the dead. Jesus, come into my life. I want to believe in You. I want to follow You. I want this relationship with You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sin and rising again from the dead. I thank You that You've heard this prayer and I believe You've come into my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

I want to help you grow in your faith. I want to help you grow spiritually, so I have a free gift for you. It's called the New Believers Growth Packet. What's in it? No, not a bag of seeds to plant in your backyard. I guess it's sort of a form of a bag of seeds because I want to sow some spiritual seed in your life to help you develop as a follower of Christ.

I'm going to send you a copy of the New Testament in the New Living Translation, but it's a special edition. It's called the New Believers Bible, and it's filled with notes that I wrote that will encourage you in this new commitment or recommitment you've made to Christ. There's some other materials in the New Believers Packet as well. So order your copy today. I'm so glad I had this privilege today to lead you in that prayer. God bless you. You've made the right decision, the decision to follow Jesus Christ.

Guest (Male): And here's how to get that New Believers Packet containing Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible. You can call us at 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24/7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300. Or drop us a note at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click the words "Know God."

You can watch our Sunday services on a special broadcast that we call Harvest at Home. It's streaming on the Harvest Plus platform. So download that app right away, Harvest Plus, and you can enjoy being a part of our extended church family every Sunday.

Greg Laurie: Next time, Pastor Greg brings us important insight on personal evangelism and the key role it plays in bringing the next great spiritual awakening to our culture. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.

Guest (Male): This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Again you hear the angels singing. This is the day, the day when life begins.