Greg Laurie - Revelation Redux: Thoughts for Last Days Believers (01/28/2018)
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Pastor Greg Laurie opens the new year with Revelation Redux, revisiting Jesus' words to the church in Philadelphia as a message for last-days believers like us at Harvest. He highlights God's control, open doors of opportunity, sufficient strength for the task, keeping His Word, inevitable opposition, protection from the great tribulation, and the urgent call to hold fast for rewards. With life passing quickly and Christ's return near, we're urged to live purposefully, seize gospel doors, stay planted in God's house, and finish strong.
Time Flies – We're Closer to Christ's Return
All right, well let's grab our Bibles and turn to the book of Revelation. I want to say hello to everyone at Harvest Riverside as well right now. And we're going to be looking at Revelation together today. And we're going to be back in the book of Revelation and the days ahead. I'm calling this Revelation Redux, thoughts for last days believers.
You know, it's hard to believe that another year has already passed, isn't it? Weren't we all supposed to have flying cars at this point? And instead we have blankets with sleeves. Well, how did that happen? How many of you actually, what is it called? A Snuggie? How many of you have a Snuggie? Raise your hand. That's really interesting. Okay, how many of you are wearing your Snuggie today at church? Good. Glad to see that.
Well, it seems as you get older that time passes more quickly. I remember when I was in the fifth grade, it seemed like it lasted a decade at least. Now years seem like months to me. And I can't believe that we cleared another Christmas. It seems before you know it, another one is coming. And life does pass so rapidly.
As Job said, my life passes more swiftly than a runner. C.S. Lewis said, the future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is, end quote.
Of course, this is hard for a lot of people because we live in a youth-obsessed culture. There are people that want to be eternally young. They can't acknowledge the fact that they're growing up. I mean, have you seen the Rolling Stones? They're touring again. They've gone from acid rock to acid reflux. I don't know. No, but it's like, they're still singing, time is still on my side. Have you seen Keith Richards lately? Seriously.
But, you know, my generation has a hard time accepting this. We don't believe in the law of gravity. We're going to fight it. And, you know, so we're going to try to look younger. But really what happens is you're just an older person who looks like you're trying to look younger. Okay, so here's the bottom line. Age is going to come. Time is going to pass. There's nothing we can do to change that.
But if we live our life with a divine purpose, if we live our life to glorify God, then we're good to go. But if we're living in the past, or we're trying to forever be young, or if we're chasing after nothingness, then we're wasting our time. It's instead, men talk of killing time while time quietly kills them.
Never Closer to the Lord's Return
I'll tell you something else about time. We've never been closer to the time of the Lord's return than we are right now in this place. And I believe Jesus could come back at any time. And that's why I'm really happy that we're continuing our studies that we put on hiatus for December and the book of Revelation.
Why? Because the book of Revelation means the book of unveiling. God is unveiling truth to us. First of all, it unveils Christ for us. It shows us who Jesus is. Secondly, it unveils the future for us. It shows us what is yet to come.
We last left off in Revelation 12. We're going to pick up next time in Revelation 13, and we'll learn a little bit more about that coming world leader, the Antichrist. But today we're going to kind of go backwards a little bit. We're going to do a rewind and go to Revelation chapter 3. Turn back to that if you would.
And why are we there? Because I want to go and revisit the words of Jesus to the church of Philadelphia. Because they are the church of the last days, and I believe we are that church. I think you could take out the word Philadelphia and insert the word harvest there. Because I think the words of Jesus to that church are relevant to our church. Or even more personally, you could take out the word Philadelphia and put your name there. These are the words of Jesus to every believer living in the end times.
Jesus' Message to Philadelphia – Verse by Verse
So let's look at what he says in Revelation 3, verses 7 on down. "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens. I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door. No man can shut it. For you have a little strength. You have kept my word, and you have not denied my name. Indeed, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie. Indeed, I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you have kept my command to persevere, I will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world, to test those that dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have, and let no one take your crown."
We'll stop there. So what does Jesus have to say to last day's believers?
1. God Is in Control – He Holds the Keys
Number one, God is in control. God is in control. Verse 7, Jesus says he has the key of David. Now I'm glad Jesus has the keys, because if I had them, they'd be lost by now. I'm always losing keys. Am I the only one?
You know, not only that, I lose my car. I'm in a mall, and I go in the parking structure, and I come out. I don't remember where I parked it. I have a severe case of mallsheimers, you see. Where did I put my car? And so I hit that emergency button, you know, to set off the alarm. And all those are good for, by the way, is finding our cars, right?
So, you know, then you locate it. But I lose keys. But Jesus doesn't lose them. And when he says he has the key, or the keys, it speaks of authority. That means there is no lock that he cannot open. There's no door he can't open.
So here's what we need to remember, is God is in control. He governs all events in the history of this planet. He opens some doors. He closes others. He determines how long we will live in this earth, not us. And the doors he closes are closed for good. No power on earth can change this. So God's in control. He has authority.
2. Open Doors of Opportunity – No One Can Shut Them
But then number two, Jesus has given to us, as a church, as last days believers, unprecedented open doors. Verse seven. He that opens and no one shuts. If the key is a symbol of his authority, the door is a symbol of opportunity.
Paul spoke of this in 2 Corinthians 2:12. He said he came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel. And a door was opened to him of the Lord. Then in Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas spoke of a door of faith that was open to them to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.
And in the same way, we should pray for those open doors in our own life. In Colossians 4, Paul writes, pray for us that God will open a door and give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That's why I'm here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
You know, sometimes people ask me, Greg, how should we pray for you when the crusades roll around? And my response would be, well, I would ask for what Paul asked for. Number one, that God would open a door to speak for him. And secondly, that I would proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
But those words are not only directed to preachers, it's to all of us. We all should pray for open doors of opportunity and that we would proclaim this message as clearly as we should. We need to bring our A game and take this all very seriously.
As we look back on a year, we cannot rest on past accomplishments or victories. I like a statement that Levi Lusko made. And I quote, the stakes are high. We must approach it each time like it's the first time and as though it will be our last time. End quote.
This year, this month, could be the last time to go through that open door that God has set before you. When I say an open door, maybe I'm talking about a person who's open to the gospel. Suddenly, maybe something happened in their life that got their attention. A little wake-up call, if you will. And they're open. Now, are you going to go through that door of opportunity and share with them? Or are you going to let that pass? See, that's up to you.
It may require a bold step on your part. The question is, will you go through the door? You see, we're not blessed to merely hoard it. We're blessed to be a blessing. God gives us the great truth and blessing in our life that we might share it with others.
One person said, and I quote, unless a man's faith saves him out of selfishness into service, it will certainly never save him out of hell into heaven. End quote. I think that's true.
And man, we are living in a time where it's so dark in our world. And even in our country. And no politician is going to fix this for us. Some say, well, let's raise taxes. Others say, let's lower taxes. Oh, we need to elect new people to represent us. Listen, we need a spiritual awakening in America or we're in big, big trouble. We need to pray for a revival in our nation like never before. We need to really be praying.
Philadelphia Then and Now – Global Opportunities
Now, let's think for a moment about the actual Church of Philadelphia that existed historically some 2,000 years ago. Then we'll talk for a moment about the Last Days Church of Philadelphia. Remember these seven letters of Jesus to the churches. They were actual churches. There was a church of Ephesus. There was a church of Smyrna, a Pergamos, Philadelphia, etc.
So this group of believers were under Roman rule at this time. A Pax Romana was in place, which was the rule of Rome. It was sort of a forced peace. The world had effectively been bludgeoned into submission by the military might of Rome. And Rome was very big in adopting the ways of the Greeks. They loved their architecture and their form of government and their culture and their religion. And so people were chasing after these false gods. And that was what was happening at this time.
Another thing the Romans did was establish Greek as the language of the entire empire. So pretty much everyone under Roman rule was learning Greek. That was the first because people spoke all these different languages. And now you had a common language, which did not exist before this. And then also the Romans are well known for their amazing road system that they built, opening up the world.
So this is the time when Christ comes and dies and rises and the church starts. So those first century believers walked those Roman roads, speaking in the original Greek language, bringing the message of the gospel to that culture.
Now let's think about the last day's church of Philadelphia. In many ways, modern technology has created a global village. Obviously, television has been with us a long time, but with the Internet, and now the way that everyone accesses it, not merely in front of a TV set or a computer, but through a tablet device or their smartphone.
I've read that somewhere around 70% of the world has a smartphone device of some kind. And so even in third world countries, they have access to this. We can speak to the whole world at one time right now. We could never do that before.
That's one of the reasons we did Harvest America. I don't know if you're aware of this, but Harvest America was one of the largest evangelistic events in American history. I'm not making that up or exaggerating it. That's a fact.
Our hope was to get maybe a thousand venues to receive the live feed from our event. And when we hit a thousand, we were excited. And then we went to 1,200. Then we went to 1,500. Then we went to 1,800. Then 2,000. And all told, we ended up with 2,400 host venues around the country. And we know, after all the numbers came in, that we had 302,000 people in person and in online attendance. And there were 15,000 professions of faith. So we're thankful for that. We really are. Yeah. It's all right here.
And as you know, it's part of a three-year plan. So this is year one. And we've sort of laid the tracks now. So now we can put a few more cars on the train, if you will, and do even more next year. And we're planning on moving Harvest America to Philadelphia next year.
Why Philadelphia? Because I like cheesesteaks. That's why. I'm dead serious. No, no. That's not the reason. No. I'll probably get one while I'm there. But. no, because Philadelphia has such a rich heritage for American history. The Liberty Bells there, of course. The Independence Hall.
But also, it's on East Coast time, you see. And so we'll do it at 7 o'clock in the evening. Then we'll beam it back here. So we'll participate in Harvest America like other churches around the country. And we can either get the live feed at 4 or we can delay it till 7. But this will enable us to reach people in real time all around our country.
And it's our hope on year three to maybe go international and maybe do Harvest America in New Zealand, possibly. And really open it up to the world. And we've already had people from other parts of the world sort of log in and be a part of it. We're going to officially open this up and extend our training. And we want to reach as many people as we can.
And you know, just think, God's allowed our church to do all those things. So we're thankful for that. So yeah, doors are open.
3. God Gives Enough Strength – Little Strength, Big Impact
But then there are the doors that are open in our own lives. Maybe there was something you wanted to do, but it didn't happen because the timing was wrong. Let's just say you had the right idea at the wrong time. Well, guess what? It's a new year. Maybe you should try again. Maybe this is the right time. Maybe this is the year or the month that that door is going to open.
It might be a person who's been closed to the gospel who suddenly opens their heart. Let's pray for these opportunities. When God opens a door, no man can shut it.
Remember the story of when Peter was arrested after James had been killed by King Herod. And Peter was in prison, chained to guards behind two big doors. There's no way he was getting out of that place. So what did the church do? Well, they prayed. And as they prayed in answer, the Lord sent an angel to free Peter.
And it's kind of funny in a way because the King James Version says that the angel appeared in the prison cell and smote Peter. Now what was that all about? I think Peter was such a deep sleeper, probably snored really loud. The angel had to go, will you wake up? And Peter wakes up and the angel sort of escorts him out. And the Bible tells us that the doors opened on their own. Sort of like in the supermarket, right? And they walked out.
Now here's the thing. God opened the doors, but Peter had to walk through them. See, God will open doors, but He won't carry you through. You've got to say, okay, I'm going to go through this open door of opportunity.
Number three, God has given us enough strength to do what He has called us to do. He's given you enough strength. You see, this church is making a comeback. Look at verse 8. You have a little strength. By the way, that's not a negative comment about the weakness of the church, but a commendation of its strength. It's the idea of a sick person coming back to life.
I've been sick for like a month now with some weird thermonuclear cold. I mean, this thing will not go away. And I think I'm better and I'm not better. And so, you know, usually when I get a cold, it'll last for five days or so at the most and I'll spring back into action. But this thing, you know, I feel bad and I'm sneezing and I'm congested and all that. And then I feel better the next day. So I go out and I'm going to work out today or I'm going to walk or do something. And then I'm fatigued, you know, so I'm back sick and then I feel better. And this cycle has been going on and on. And so, you know, I understand the idea of not being at full strength.
That was a church. You see, the church at full strength is the church of the book of Acts. If the church ever hit its peak, that's where it was hit. And this is a church that's getting back to that, which to me implies possibly a revival. That there's some kind of an awakening where we're getting back to the church of the first century. Not a super church, but a church returning to strength.
In fact, Jesus said, when the Son of Man returns, will he find faith on the earth? The implication being the church will not have conquered the world. We'll be coming back, not in the strength we had at one time, but we're making a comeback. And that's good.
Little Faith Can Become Big – Like Peter
It reminds me of the story of Simon Peter walking on the water to Jesus. You know, a lot of times people are critical of Peter because he sunk. But hello? Nobody else walked on the water to Jesus.
And to the point when Peter saw Jesus walking toward him, he said, Lord, if it's you, bid me come. And Jesus, I believe, with a twinkle in his eye and a smile in his face, said, all right, Peter, come on, man. Do it. Peter says, well, I will. And throws a big old leg over the side of the boat. Kind of presses down in the water. It's holding him. He brings the other leg around. He stands up. He said, whoa, okay. He takes his first step. Then he takes his second.
Of course, yeah, he did begin to sink when he saw huge waves and he panicked a little bit. And Jesus reaches out to Peter and pulls him up and says, oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? You're doing so well, Peter.
And that phrase, little faith, is interesting because in the Greek, it's not two words. It's one. Oh, little faith. One word. Why did you doubt? And in the original language, there's a tenderness implied. Oh, little faith. Almost like a nickname. Oh, little faith. You know, you're doing great, Peter.
He should have kept going. And then he picked him back up. And little faith in the Lord walked back to the boat. Listen, God can take little faith and turn it into big faith if you'll take a step of faith. Nothing's going to happen if you just sit around. Nothing's going to happen if you're waiting to suddenly become, you know, super spiritual. Just take a little step, baby steps, if you will. Like Peter.
Even a willingness to fail. But you're going to take a risk for the kingdom of God. Can you do that in this coming year? I know the world's a big place. But you have your world. You have your friends. You have your family.
I'm sure we can all think of someone right now that is not a Christian. Let's just use our imaginations for a moment. Can you think of someone you know that's not a Christian? Raise your hand if you can. Well, I would hope so. Some are like, I can't think of anyone. They're out there. Trust me.
Now here's my challenge for you. Let's take a baby step. Why don't you just make them your project for the first part of this year? I'm going to start praying for that person by name. I'm going to make it my goal to bring the gospel to that person. The door is open.
And listen, life is short. And if you're not going to get... I mean, what I wanted to say was, if you're going to do it, do it. Don't think, well, I'll do it next year or even next month. This is the time.
4. Keeping His Word – No Denying His Name
Number four, they were keeping his word and they were not denying his name. Verse 8. You've kept my word. How important this is in these last days to be keeping the word.
Listen, I have never seen a greater biblical illiteracy in churches like I've seen today. I've been preaching for 40 years now. I started when I was four. I had a little pulpit. I was very cute. No, I started a little older than that.
But, you know, I'm amazed at the illiteracy, even among Christians. I'm not talking about culture in general. I don't expect a lot of them. But when I meet a follower of Jesus who has known the Lord for a time, I'm amazed at how many don't read their Bibles. They don't understand basic theology.
Reminds me of a statement C. S. Lewis said, quote, if you do not listen to theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will just mean that you have a lot of wrong ones. You know, theology simply means the study of God.
And that is why at Harvest we give a prominent place to Bible exposition in every service. And we will continue to do so.
What's the deal with churches where people don't bring their Bibles? Well, I don't have one. Well, go buy one, cheapskate. I mean, I'll loan you one for a while, but you've got to go get your own, all right? I'll give you one that looks like this. You need something to hold you over, a little New Testament.
But that's the best investment you're ever going to make. And here's my challenge to you in this coming year. Let's commit ourselves to read through the entire Bible.
By the way, there's an app for that. It's called the Harvest App. We developed it. I don't know how many of you have it. How many of you have the Harvest App? Quite a few of you could. But many of you don't.
Let me explain what it is. You put it on your iPhone or your tablet device or your Android phone. And so this little app sort of opens up a whole world of great spiritual information for you. It has our daily devotion. It has our radio, daily radio broadcast, our TV show, archives, all of our services, all of our messages that you can watch on demand at any time.
But a really cool feature is you can go through the Bible in a year. And it sort of breaks it down for you. So you go to the Through the Bible program and you punch it. And then it shows you the verses you're supposed to read that day. X amount from the Old Testament and some from the New Testament. And if you want, you can even click another button and it will read them to you.
So, you know, you could start your reading in the morning. You have a little break at lunch, finish it up, and you can get to the Bible in a year. We'll tell you a little more about that later.
But the point is, you can do it that way. You can go old school style and actually read the book like this here, you know. Start here, end here, right? You could do that in a year.
The wise men of Psalm 1 meditates in God's Word day and night. We need to keep the Word. The word keep means to guard it. But we must also spread it.
And look at what John Stott says in a quote. Here is the balance of the Christian life. It's a life of give and take. First we take what he offers. Then we give what he asks. He sets before us. He opens doors of salvation and service. He bids us to go in through the one to receive salvation and out the other to give service. Jesus said freely. You have received freely give.
5. Opposition Comes – But God Protects
Okay, number five. When we keep and proclaim his Word, the devil will oppose us. When we keep and proclaim the Word, the devil will oppose us. Verse nine. I'll make those of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not. I'll make them come and worship before your feet.
Listen. Satanic attack is a confirmation you are on the right track. Let me ask you a question. How many of you have been tempted in the last couple of weeks to sin? Raise your hand up. All right. Not all of you. Raise your hand.
How many of you have not been tempted in the last two weeks to do evil? You must be worthless. Because the devil only tempts those who are a threat to his kingdom.
Listen. If you never get tempted, I would ask you the question, what are you even doing? You don't kick a dead horse. See you people that raise your hand saying you were tempted. See I am walking into one of Greg's traps aren't I? No. You gave the right answer.
Because every Christian will be tempted. It is not a sin to be tempted. I didn't ask how many of you gave in to the temptation. I asked if you were tempted. And the devil will oppose us when we are serving the Lord.
In fact, whenever we undertake a bold step of faith to do something for the Lord, I expect opposition. And if I don't see opposition, I ask myself, what are we doing wrong here? Come on. Where is the criticism? Where is the opposition? Because those things always come when we seek to serve the Lord.
We are living in a time where it is going to be harder and harder to follow Jesus. We live right now in what you could describe in America as an ABC culture. ABC. Anything but Christ.
You know, you can believe anything you want. People are cool with it. You say, well, I believe Jesus. What? Who? You believe in that. And suddenly in their mind, you are narrow minded. You are puritanical. You are bigoted. You are hateful. And a lot of other things they will accuse you of just because you believe in the word of God.
But listen, God is going to keep you and give you the strength to do what he has called you to do. But opposition will come.
6. Kept from the Hour of Trial – The Tribulation
Number six, we are almost done. Jesus promises to keep us from the great tribulation period. Verse 10. I will keep you from the hour of trial which will come upon the whole world to test those that dwell on the earth.
This is speaking of a time coming to the earth that is still in our future. It will be inaugurated by the anti-Christ and ended by the return of Jesus Christ. The tribulation lasts for seven years. That is what is being referred to here. The hour of trial which will come upon the whole world.
Hour of trial shows us it is a clear moment of time. Seven years. Also happening in all of the world. You say, no, wait a second. Didn't Jesus say in this world you will have tribulation? Yes, he did. And you will. But there is a difference between personal tribulation and trials and hardships we face as followers of Jesus and the great tribulation period that is coming to try those that dwell on the earth.
And the phrase keep, when he says, I will keep you from the hour, it means keep from or keep out of. We will not go through the tribulation period. I believe the rapture where the Lord calls us to heaven will happen before this time begins. We will talk about that more later.
7. Hold Fast – Don't Lose Your Crown
Number seven and lastly. The last day's believer needs to hold their course. You need to hold your course. Verse 11. Jesus says, Behold, I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have, that no one will take your crown.
What does this mean? What is a crown? A crown is a reward. And the Bible refers to crowns many times. We're told that there is the crown of life for the person who perseveres. Paul said, I fought the good fight. I finished the course. I kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of life.
And so that's offered to those of us that follow Jesus. The Bible speaks of the crown of righteousness in 2 Timothy 4:8. And then there is another crown as we suffer. So there are many crowns mentioned in Scripture that God will give to followers of Jesus. It is a reward.
So be careful, Jesus says, lest you lose your crown. This is not referring to losing your salvation. It is referring to losing your reward. It is possible as a Christian to not use your time, resources, and life as wisely as you ought to, and have a saved soul but a lost life. Or you would stand before God and have very little to show for it.
Listen, you're saved because of what Jesus did for you at the cross, not because of your works or accomplishments. But if you're really saved, there should be results in your life. You don't work for your salvation, but if you're really saved, you should want to bring forth good works and good fruit to glorify God.
And so the warning here is, is don't lose this. Because one day we'll stand at what the Bible calls the judgment seat of Christ. And 1 Corinthians 3 says, each man's work will be shown for what it is. The day will bring it to light. It will be revealed by fire. The fire will test the quality of every man's work. If what he has built survives, he'll receive a reward.
This could best be described as a heavenly awards ceremony. This is not about whether you get to heaven or not. The fact is, this judgment, if you will, takes place in heaven, you see. So you're there. You're home free. Now this is about the rewards of the crowns that are given out for faithful service to God.
And that's what we want to do. We want to live in a way where we can bring honor to God.
Jesus closes with these words in verse 13. He that has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. This phrase is in the present perfect tense. Which means it could be better translated, hear what the Spirit is saying. Pay attention. Take this personally.
Revelation is about an unveiling. The unveiling of Jesus. The unveiling of heaven. We need to have an eternal perspective. We need to be heavenly minded people.
What do I mean by that? It means that I go through life realizing that I'll be there before I know it. And what I do here affects what will happen there. First of all, it affects if I'll bring other people with me to heaven. What kind of rewards will be waiting for me there? How I live my life.
So I need to evaluate things what I do. Decisions I make. In that light. Because life comes and goes so very quickly.
In this last month, I've had to say goodbye to a number of friends. And it's been very hard. Frank Pastore was one of them. And one that just went into eternity. Last Friday is a very important part of our church here at Harvest Orange County. His name is Gary Arthur.
I don't know how many of you know Gary, but Gary worked at the soundboard. He was the guy that was always back there, you know, keeping the levels right. And Gary was involved in a bunch of the Christian bands in the early 70s. In a band called The Way. Another band called Parable. And was really a very talented musician and worship leader.
But when we started this church, he was here all the time just helping and working. And pretty soon we brought him on staff. And he helped in a lot of areas, but was a faithful servant of the Lord. And then he was unexpectedly called home to heaven last Friday night.
And, you know, our hearts go out to his family. We know he's in heaven and we rejoice for Gary. But we're going to miss him. And this is life, though. It's so unexpected, you know.
But, you know, when people are older, well, we think, yeah, you know, it could happen. But we never think it will happen to those who are very young. I mentioned my son who went to be with the Lord when he was 33. It was the shock of our life. And we still deeply mourn that.
And you've all heard the recent story, the tragic story, of a little Lenya Lusko, age five, who was called home to heaven also in December. And Levi, who's spoken here many times, his heart is broken along with his wife, Jenny. This is the hardest thing they've ever gone through. They're grieving. They're hurting. But they're also trusting and they're hoping.
And I was really impressed that Levi got up in front of his congregation there in Montana, a Fresh Life Church, and gave his message on Christmas only three days after Lenya was called home to heaven. And he was actually scheduled to be here last Sunday to speak to us. But for obvious reasons, he wasn't able to come.
Well, he's here in California right now and just taking some time off in the morning, being with his family. And he said, you know, I had a message I wanted to share. last Sunday, and I would still like to share it. I said, you're saying you want to like speak still? He goes, I really do.
And I thought, well, listen, we'd love to hear what you have to say. Would you like to hear what Levi has to say today? Levi, come on up.
Levi Lusko – One Thing I Desire
Hey, Harvest. All right. So, first of all, I just want to say what a joy it is to get a worship with you guys. And having just heard that word, it's just so refreshing for us to be ministered to. And I want to greet you in Riverside and the Internet as well. All right.
There's like a small animal on the stage. I don't think there really is when I just heard it. But, you know, when I was praying about what to come share with you guys last weekend when we were getting ready, the moment Greg asked me to come preach, you know, knowing it was right before the year was about to begin, God laid a real specific verse on my heart.
And I don't want to take a lot of your time, but I definitely want to just have the chance just to give you this verse because I feel like it was something that God legitimately wanted you guys to hear going into a new year, 2013.
And, um, you know, this, this whole thing has been just obviously, uh, being blindsided. Um, you don't plan for something like this. I brought a picture. This is Lenya right here. Um, she honestly, um, she loves this church harvest. She loves both campuses being in, in Riverside, uh, her and my older daughter, Olivia, they call it just Greg's church.
Uh, we're going to Greg's church. Which one? The one with a big bookstore or the one closer to Disneyland or, or the one with the baseball stadium in it? Cause they thought that the harvest crusade was one of the campuses too.
And, um, this was her coming down with me, just her and I, I brought her one time, just her and I, I think we did one of the weekends and, and, um, you know, she, she died with no, um, no time for us to prepare, no time for us to get ready, no time for us to, uh, um, to, to say goodbye.
It just, um, and, uh, and five days before Christmas, um, you know, Jenny, uh, Jenny was wrapping Christmas presents, uh, when, when everything went happened and she wasn't sick. It was just, it was just such a freak thing. And, and, uh, and yet I'll tell you this, I'll tell you in it all, in, in the most difficult, most horrific nightmare we could ever dream up for ourselves, uh, our anchor has held fast that we are hurting, but we have hope.
I want to tell you that faith works. And I want to tell you that though we miss her fiercely, we trust God fully in our theology, which was formed in the sunshine. We believe it even in the shade, even in the difficulty of night. And the worst thing we could go through. God has been with us and he'll be with you in your dark days as well. I want to tell you that.
And, uh, and the verse that God gave me for you guys going into this new year was Psalm 27 verse four, Psalm 27 verse four. You can just jot that down. I'll read it to you. You can look it up on, on your own time.
And, uh, David is speaking. He says this, he says, one thing I have desired of the Lord that will I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
I love this verse, um, because he, well, first, first of all, he starts off by saying one thing and that's easy for me. I'm a, I'm a, I'm a simple guy. So one thing I can get that. I can't get seven. I can get one thing.
Uh, one thing I, I, I ask, and I love the one thing statements in the Bible. It's a great study. If you look through them, you see Mary and Martha, Jesus says, one thing is needed to Martha who's distracted. You look at the blind man who's been healed and everyone's like, well, is Jesus a sinner? And he says, one thing I know I was blind, but now I see.
I love Paul. Last time I actually came and preached here, we talked about how Paul said, one thing I do. I forget what's behind me. And I run like I, with a heart of a tiger, the eyes of a dove running towards all that God has for me, that we should run looking to fulfill all of our potential to get through every open door of opportunity and leave nothing undone. Just leave it out there. Full A game every single time.
And, uh, I love that. And to hear David, I got one thing. What's it, David? What's your one thing? He says, one thing I have asked of God and that will I see. Meaning it's not just wishful thinking. I'm actually going to fight to make my, my intention a reality.
So one thing I desire, that's what I'm going for. One thing I'm planning on and I'm going to do it by God's grace. What? What is it, David, that you want so much? I want to dwell in God's house all the days of my life.
Now, just a few chapters earlier in Psalm 23, David already told us what he believed was going to happen to him when he left this earth. What did he say in Psalm 23 verse 6? After I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I believe, he said, I will dwell in God's house forever.
That's the promise of heaven. That's really good news. Because 17 days ago, I tried to give CPR to my five-year-old daughter, and she died in my arms. But I'm going to tell you something though. I could not hold her any longer. I believe that the angels took her to be with Jesus in heaven.
I believe that right now, she's more alive than she's ever been in her entire life. And I believe that we will see her again. We have a living hope because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I believe that right now, my daughter is dwelling in the house of the Lord and will forever, just like David.
But what gives me such a smile on my face, though Jenny and I weren't perfect parents and still aren't to our three girls that we have on this earth, but what we have done is made the decision like David to dwell in God's house. Not just looking forward to it one day, but while we've been living.
David didn't just say, I'm going to dwell there forever. He said in Psalm 27 verse 4, I will dwell in God's house all the days of my life. I'm going to live planted in God's house, Psalm 92, 13, because I want to flourish in the courts of our God.
Many Christians miss out on some of the best parts of their Christian life because they live with the expectation of heaven one day going to God's house to live there forever, but they forego the opportunity to dwell in God's house while they live, to be planted in God's house.
The church is an often thing. I'm here, there. I come on Christmas. I show up when it's convenient. I come sporadically. I come just to hear a good bless me message. But that's not being planted in God's house. That's not putting deep down roots and being connected, being sewn into the fabric of the body. That's not serving and spending and being spent for the sake of others being reached.
But God has a heart for his house. I hope you know that. God, what do you care about? He's got a heart for his house. In the Old Testament, that meant his temple, where his people met with him. Flash forward to the New Testament. It's the household of faith. We are the house of God. Living stones being built up as a dwelling place for God in the Spirit.
You have God in you. I have God in me. But we're never more full of God than when we are together. There's something sacred, something special about the assembly. And as the day approaches, it becomes more vital, the Bible says. That we gather together as God's house.
As we come together, God's plea. You better believe he has a heart for his house. And David was a man after God's own heart. Because he had a heart for God's house. And we're never more like God than when we love his church, than when we're giving ourselves for it.
Jesus Christ today, right now, what's he focused on? Building his church. I will build my church. And the gates of hell will not prevail against it. He gave his own blood to purchase a bride, to build a house, to form his church. And he expects us, with the salvation we have, to be as focused on building his church as he is.
We should have a heart for his house. So my call to you in this next year is to make the decision. If this is the soil, this is good soil, by the way. This is the soil God's called you to, to put down roots. Make the decision. We're going to be planted in God's house.
None of this church shopping, church hopping, go here, felt needs, going there, consumer tendencies. Enough with that. Put down roots. Pick a team. Play some ball. Make some impact. Put your shoulder to the plow. Get something done. Maximum effort, same place, over time.
And I'm so thankful, I want to tell you something. Having launched now, one arrow, out of our four that we have to launch, to the quiver, and I can't shoot it any straight, I can't shoot it any more than I already have. We shot, we shot an arrow out.
I'll tell you this, I am so thankful, that in the five years that God gave us the honor of being Linya Avery's mom and dad on this earth, she was planted in God's house for each of those days. There's, there's a lot of questions Linya would ask me. That's, you can clap for that.
There's a lot of questions Linya would ask me. She asked a lot of questions, of her mom and dad, and I'll tell you a question she never asked. Are we going to church this week? She knew we were going to church. We always went to church. Yeah, because you're a pastor. No, because I'm a Christian. I'm a part of God's house. We're planted in God's house.
God gives us $10. The first dollar goes to Jesus. That's how we raised our kids. That's how we are raising them. So she had a Jesus jar. And you know what? I opened it. I went in the pantry, weeping, opening. It was empty. You want to know why? Or one of her nannies told us that when she was taking to Sunday school on the last Sunday before she went to heaven, she went up and individually put every single penny in the tithe box because of the money God gave her, she was giving the first and the best to Jesus.
She knew Esther. She knew David. We love the thought of her being with them because she read all about them. At church, her Sunday school teachers deposited those things into her heart. On family devotions, we read them to her. The night before she went to heaven, talked about Gabriel going to Joseph. I love that she's with Gabriel right now.
We're bummed because she wasn't with us for Christmas. I guarantee you she had a better Christmas than we have here on this earth. Being with Jesus in glory. I want to encourage you from a dad with a daughter in heaven. Make the decision to be planted in God's house.
That's a foregone conclusion for your family looking forward. Because I would hate to think to look back and think, I wish I had brought my daughter to church every weekend. I wish she had heard God's word. I wish she had memorized. I wish we had taught her tithing. I wish we had shown her these things.
And that's a decision that I believe God's calling you to make in this new year. Let 2013 be a year where you say, one thing, God, I have desired, that will I seek, that I would dwell in God's house all the days of my life. And it would Mark a spiritual seamless transition when you're called to be in glory and dwell there forever.
Invitation – First-Time Decisions and Recommitments
Now I want to end by giving an invitation. You've heard this amazing message about the end of the world and it's coming to bear upon you and you're not guaranteed another moment. And that has never been more real to me or more pressing to me than it is right now.
You know, we weren't given the gift of being told you have six months to live. I mean, you think hearing that from a doctor would be quite like a death sentence, a curse, but that's a gift when you hear it. We weren't given that opportunity. Death came to us without notice and completely caught us off guard.
And what if this was your last year on the earth? What if this was your last day on the earth? You know, the Mayan calendar, everyone was talking about the end of the world, December 21st. My daughter's life ended on December 20th. So it wasn't the end of the world that was the issue, it was the end of her life.
If this was your last year, if this was your last week, are you ready to stand before God? Our death is real. You're going to stand before him to be judged. And if you haven't given your heart to Jesus Christ, who I believe even now is knocking at the door of your heart, as you heard this message, he's been convicting some of you, drawing you to himself.
And you only have this life to make a decision. Eternity is coming to bear upon you. And Christ has paid your bill at the cross. And he Rose from the dead, defeating death. And he's willing to give you the free gift of eternal life. But you have to accept that and believe in him to receive that life and to become sons and daughters of God.
That's an invitation that we want to give you. My daughter Lenya loved inviting people to church. We would invite people to school, church events, and Fresh Life services. And when we went through her purses, the purse that my wife said of her many purses, she had with her the last, the last three days, she was carrying this one purse around that we found out later was Libby's and a whole other story. Poor girls, a lot of drama. I love being a daddy to girls.
Don't you ever ask me, you're going to try for a boy, you want a boy? I love being a daddy to little girls. And we opened her purse up. We found a Bible in it and an invitation to our Fresh Life Christmas Eve worship. And I'm so glad we found that.
When we were in the hospital parking lot and we were. leaving where she had been declared dead, it's hard to leave her body there. My wife in the car turned to me and said, you need to go back in the ER and invite all those people to church. Because Lenya would have wanted you to.
She would call us out if we forgot to at a checkout. Didn't give an invitation, dad. So I went back in the ER with a handful of Fresh Life Christmas invites. And I walked up to the nurses and doctors and the receptionists in the ER and I said, my little girl is in heaven whose body is right here. And she would want me to invite you to church. We're having outreach on Christmas Eve. And we would love to have you come and take this invitation.
We received word back that the nurse who was in there that day, she not only came, but came and gave her life to Christ and experienced salvation. And then two paramedics. came and they wanted us to know we came in tribute to your daughter, but ended up raising their hands and giving their hearts to Jesus Christ as well.
And as the stories gone out and the videos on the Internet, we've received back word from the tens of thousands who have watched these clips and videos of her life that, that we've so many kids and parents. I'm going to start reading my kids, the Bible kids who get prayed to receive Jesus and, and just amazing things.
And what I would say is this, is that nothing would make me happier than, than any of this, than just to know that, that some who don't know Jesus are giving their hearts to Christ touched and impressed upon by the reality of mortality.
So I want to give this invitation. Could we bow our heads and close our eyes? God, we thank you for your love, your gospel, which is true Christ's death, which is significant. God, for every one of us, because you paid our bill, you died in our place. I thank you.
And I want to thank you publicly for the Lori family and how all the grief that they've gone through. God, you've used their suffering to comfort our hearts, that what they walked through, and we walked with them through, God, and, and they're still walking through. They've been willing to open up and go there and be of such great comfort to, to Jenny and I and the girls. And we're so thankful for them and their love.
And we thank you for every person listening to this message. God, in Riverside and in Orange County on the web, so many listening and, and you're going to hear this later. And, and I just thank you that right now, whoever they are, wherever they are, you love them and care for them and died for their sins.
And they are just one prayer, one faith that being placed away from having their entire life changed and their death changed. And I pray for this, this amazing group of people, God, that they would not just as Christians dwell in your house forever, but all the days of their lives.
And right now, as we're praying, if God is impressing upon you the reality of your sin and your need for a savior, if you want to give your heart to Jesus Christ, if you would like to be set free, knowing that this means turning from sin, turning to him in faith, following him as Lord.
I want to ask you to raise your hand up in the air. Would you like to give your heart to Jesus? Raise your hand up right now. Just shoot your hand up in the air. I'm asking when you die, would you like to be ready to go to heaven? God bless you. Raise your hand up.
Who else needs to give their heart to Christ? God bless you right there. Old, young, a lot of sins, few sins. Just give your heart to God. Right now, put your hand up in the air. How great will it feel to walk out of here forgiven? How wonderful it is to have your iniquities covered, to go to sleep without a guilty conscience. Raise your hand up. Call on Christ. Look unto him and ye shall be saved. All ye the ends of the earth. Raise your hand. Join these.
In Riverside, raise your hand up in the courtyard. Overflow. Everywhere. Raise your hand up. God bless you for every one of these.
Now, you can put your hands down. And I want to extend another invitation. I want to call out perhaps any Christians who are backslidden. You're saved, but like Pastor Greg said, you're wasting this life Jesus purchased for you. But you want to say no more. Let 2013 be the year I turn from my backsliding. I follow him with my full heart.
Could you raise your hand up if that's who I'm talking to? Raise your hand up. God knows who you are, but you acknowledge him. Yes, that's me. I'm a backslider. I'm turning from those ways. I will follow Christ with all my heart, with whatever life he gives me. God bless every one of you. You can put your hands down.
And I pray for all of those, God. Give them, seal this commitment. But for those who raised your hands a moment ago to make a first-time decision to follow Christ, pray this prayer with me. Would you say this to God?
Dear Lord, I know that I'm a sinner. And I turn from my sin. I believe that Jesus died in my place. I believe he Rose from the dead. Lord, please come into my heart. Forgive me. Help me to walk with you all the days of my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.