Greg Laurie - Signs of the Last Days and Why You Shouldn't Panic

March 30, 2026 | 27:29

Join Pastor Greg Laurie for a time of encouragement, worship, and Bible study.

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Harvest with Pastor Greg Laurie | Greg Laurie - Signs of the Last Days and Why You Shouldn't Panic | March 30, 2026
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  • Greg laurie: you know, we're always looking for the shortcut
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  • To spiritual growth, like how am i gonna become a greater man or
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  • Woman of god?
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  • Well, that's a good thing to think about and want to be, but
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  • There's no shortcuts.
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  • It's literally every day getting up and putting one foot in front
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  • Of the other and walking with god.
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  • As one person put it, long obedience in the same direction.
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  • ♪ this is the day, ♪
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  • ♪ the day when life begins. ♪
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  • ♪ this is the day, the day when life begins. ♪♪
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  • Greg: all right, well, let's grab our bibles and turn to
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  • 1 john chapter 2.
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  • And the title of my message is "signs of the last days and why
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  • You shouldn't panick."
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  • So, chapter 2 clearly shows us that we're living in the
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  • Last days.
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  • All around us are signs of the times pointing to the fact
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  • That jesus is coming again.
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  • There are some very positive signs that would suggest we
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  • Might be on the verge of another spiritual awakening in america
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  • And even the world.
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  • And then there are some frightening signs that show the
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  • Conflicts around the world, showing that these events we
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  • Read about could happen in real time before our very eyes.
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  • It reminds me of the introduction of charles dickens
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  • To his book, "a tale of two cities."
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  • He describes france before the revolutionary war, and he states
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  • These things, and they're familiar statements: "it was the
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  • Best of times.
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  • It was the worst of times.
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  • It was the age of wisdom; it was the age of foolishness.
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  • It was a season of light; it was a season of darkness.
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  • It was a spring of hope; it was a winter of despair."
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  • It reminds us of the time we're living in right now.
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  • And now we read what john has to say in 1 john 2, verse 18:
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  • "little children, it is the last hour; and as you heard that the
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  • Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by
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  • Which we know that this is the last hour.
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  • They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had
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  • Been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went
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  • Out that it might be made manifest, that none of them were
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  • Of us."
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  • We'll stop there.
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  • Point number one: the antichrist is coming.
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  • A world figure will emerge on the scene that is called the
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  • Beast, the wicked one, and also the antichrist.
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  • He will deceive millions of people.
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  • At first he'll seem like a good guy.
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  • But he'll turn out to be the worst guy.
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  • If satan ever had a son, this is him.
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  • He'll appear as a peacemaker, but he'll end up being the worst
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  • Troublemaker that ever lived, and he'll be energized by the
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  • Devil himself.
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  • Revelation 13:2 says that the dragon, who is also explained to
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  • Be satan in another chapter, "will give him his authority,"
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  • And really he's an imitation.
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  • Whatever god does, satan will try to imitate.
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  • So god has his only begotten son.
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  • Satan, in effect, will have his son, and we have this false
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  • Christ that will be out there.
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  • And also, there will be other imitations as well.
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  • He's not going to be what you might expect, blessed--dressed
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  • Head to toe in black with flaming red eyes and steam
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  • Coming up and the darth vader theme playing in the background
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  • As he quotes ac/dc lyrics or something like that.
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  • He'll probably be very attractive, very charismatic,
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  • Very intelligent, but he is a deceiver.
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  • You know, could artificial intelligence play any role in
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  • The role of antichrist?
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  • Elon musk made an interesting statement, and i quote: "a form
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  • Of artificial intelligence smarter than humans could create
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  • An immortal dictator from which we would never escape,"
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  • End quote.
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  • Fascinating.
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  • And a lot of times people will try to figure out who the
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  • Antichrist is, but i don't think we should waste our time or
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  • Energy doing that because he cannot be revealed until the
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  • Church is caught up to meet the lord in the air in what we often
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  • Call the rapture of the church.
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  • The bible says: "he who now restrains will continue to do so
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  • Until he is taken out of the way, and then that wicked one
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  • Will be revealed," that's antichrist, "whom the lord will
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  • Destroy with the brightness of his coming."
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  • The restraining force in the world today is the holy spirit
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  • Working through the church.
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  • Godly men and women that speak up for what is true, they speak
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  • Out against what is wrong.
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  • And once we're removed, once we're caught up to meet the lord
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  • In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, then antichrist can
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  • Enter the scene and do his thing.
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  • So don't waste your time looking for antichrist.
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  • Do what the bible says: look for jesus christ.
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  • That's what our focus should be.
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  • Point number two: antichrists, plural, are already here.
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  • Antichrists are here already because john not only speaks of
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  • The antichrist, the beast, the world leader, but antichrists.
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  • Now keep this in mind, the prefix "anti" doesn't just mean
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  • Against, it also means instead of.
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  • So we could call them "instead of christs" or imitation
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  • Christs, if you will.
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  • Don't forget in the beginning of matthew 24, known as the olivet
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  • Discourse, jesus said, "a sign of the last days is many will
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  • Come in my name saying, 'i am christ.'"
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  • So instead of christ, people are always looking for a substitute
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  • For christ.
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  • Mark zuckerberg of meta says we don't have enough friends.
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  • Maybe he doesn't have enough friends.
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  • I don't know, but we don't have enough friends.
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  • And so instead of going out and socializing and making some more
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  • Friends, he says the solution is ai.
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  • We need more robots because ai knows us better than friends
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  • Because they do a better job of knowing our likes
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  • And preferences.
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  • Oh, so i'm supposed to have a cappuccino with my roomba now
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  • Instead of go meet a friend somewhere?
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  • I mean, you know, really?
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  • This is to me antichrist thinking.
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  • Understand what i'm saying?
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  • "instead of christ" thinking, i'm looking for substitutes for
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  • Christ, other things to look to instead of jesus.
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  • And this is what we should not be doing.
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  • The greatest deception is not atheism;
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  • It's instead-of-christ thinking.
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  • A sign of the end-times will be pretend believers,
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  • Imitation christians.
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  • 1 timothy 4:1 says, "the spirit speaks clearly, and in the last
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  • Time some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
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  • Spirits and doctrines that demons teach."
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  • A phrase you hear used today is "deconstructing."
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  • People will say, "i'm deconstructing my faith.
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  • I'm dismantling my faith.
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  • I'm questioning my faith."
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  • And why are they doing this?
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  • "because i've experienced church hurt."
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  • Oh, really?
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  • "yeah, i was hurt in church."
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  • Okay, well, look, if you were hurt in church, i'm sorry that
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  • Happened to you.
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  • The church is full of broken people just like you, and things
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  • Do happen, so maybe you were hurt in church, but i hope you
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  • Don't give up on the church.
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  • Jesus hasn't, and if you're looking for the perfect church,
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  • Please don't join it because you'll ruin it.
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  • Because we're all flawed, so i think that we need to ask the
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  • Question, well, if a person walks away from the faith, they
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  • Leave the church, they abandon their faith, they say they're no
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  • Longer a christian, has that person lost their salvation?
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  • They say, well, they're deconstructing.
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  • I suggest maybe they never constructed to start with.
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  • Maybe they're not leaving their faith.
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  • Maybe they never had faith in the very beginning.
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  • If your faith collapses, maybe it's because it was never
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  • Constructed on christ to start with.
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  • See, here's what john says, again 1 john 2:19, "they went
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  • Out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of
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  • Us, they would have continued with us."
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  • Now let me explain.
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  • Christians mess up.
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  • Christians lapse, christians sin, christians can fall away,
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  • Christians can backslide even for a prolonged period of time.
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  • And you can do that and still be a christian.
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  • But if you're a true christian, eventually you'll come
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  • Home again.
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  • Just like the prodigal son, he messed up, he sinned, but he
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  • Came to his senses and said, "i've sinned.
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  • I'm going to go back to my father and say, 'father,
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  • I've sinned.
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  • I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.
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  • Just hire me as a hired hand.'"
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  • And he went home and, of course, his father threw his arms around
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  • Him and kissed him and welcomed him back as a son.
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  • And the father missed his son and longed for his return, but
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  • If you walk away from the faith and you never return to the
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  • Faith, my suggestion is you were never part of the faith to
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  • Start with.
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  • You've not lost your salvation.
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  • Most likely, you never had salvation.
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  • That's what john is saying: "if they were of us, they would have
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  • Continued with us.
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  • And if they don't continue with us, it shows they were never of
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  • Us to really begin with."
  • 00:10:09.785 --> 00:10:12.021
  • Okay, so let's shift gears now to chapter 3.
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  • 1 john 3, read along with me: "behold what manner of love the
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  • Father bestowed on us, that we should be called
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  • Children of god!
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  • Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not
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  • Know him.
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  • Beloved, now we are the children of god; and it has not yet been
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  • Revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is
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  • Revealed, we shall be like him, for we will see him as he is,"
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  • And i love this final verse.
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  • I'd underline it if i were you.
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  • "everyone that has this hope purifies himself just as he
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  • Is pure."
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  • So here's point number three: god loves you more than you
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  • Could ever know.
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  • God loves you more than you could ever know.
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  • You say, "i know because i'm so awesome."
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  • Not really.
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  • He loves you because he's so awesome.
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  • He loves you with an everlasting love.
  • 00:11:05.541 --> 00:11:08.878
  • The bible says: "therefore with loving kindness, he has
  • 00:11:08.878 --> 00:11:11.747
  • Drawn you."
  • 00:11:11.747 --> 00:11:13.115
  • Jesus said, "for god so loved the world, he gave his only
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  • Begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not
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  • Perish but have everlasting life."
  • 00:11:20.089 --> 00:11:22.558
  • And then the apostle paul personalized it and said, "he
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  • Loved me and he gave himself for me."
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  • So god loves you.
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  • Coming back to the prodigal story, even when the son had
  • 00:11:32.735 --> 00:11:36.272
  • Gone astray, the father never stopped loving him.
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  • And because god loves you, point number four, he adopted you as
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  • His child.
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  • 1 john 3:1, "behold what manner of love the father has bestowed
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  • On us that we should be called the children of god."
  • 00:11:50.252 --> 00:11:54.890
  • By the way, this word "behold" isn't casual.
  • 00:11:54.890 --> 00:11:58.060
  • It's like john is saying, "hey, look at this.
  • 00:11:58.060 --> 00:12:00.996
  • Don't miss this. check this out.
  • 00:12:00.996 --> 00:12:02.364
  • 'behold--behold--what kind of love the father has toward you,
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  • He adopted you into his family.'"
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  • Now, and god has adopted you.
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  • He chose you and he adopted you.
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  • I heard about two boys, two sons, that were arguing as
  • 00:12:17.012 --> 00:12:20.416
  • Brothers do.
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  • One was a biological son, one was an adopted son.
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  • And the biological son said, "dad loves me more than you
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  • Because i have his dna."
  • 00:12:28.457 --> 00:12:30.659
  • And the adopted son said, "yeah, well, guess what?
  • 00:12:30.659 --> 00:12:34.063
  • He chose me, he got stuck with you."
  • 00:12:34.063 --> 00:12:40.269
  • God chose you.
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  • He picked you out with a purpose.
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  • Adoption is intentional.
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  • That's why the bible says we have not received the spirit of
  • 00:12:47.476 --> 00:12:50.546
  • Bondage again to fear, but one of adoption whereby we cry,
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  • "abba, father."
  • 00:12:54.817 --> 00:12:56.185
  • What does that mean?
  • 00:12:56.185 --> 00:12:57.520
  • It means--abba father is the hebrew equivalent of daddy
  • 00:12:57.520 --> 00:13:00.523
  • Or papa.
  • 00:13:00.523 --> 00:13:01.891
  • It's an affectionate phrase a child uses of their father,
  • 00:13:01.891 --> 00:13:06.729
  • Papa, daddy, and god is giving you the spirit of adoption where
  • 00:13:06.729 --> 00:13:10.366
  • You can say that to him, where you can say, "abba, father."
  • 00:13:10.366 --> 00:13:14.937
  • When you go to israel today, you'll see the little kids
  • 00:13:14.937 --> 00:13:17.506
  • Calling out for their daddy.
  • 00:13:17.506 --> 00:13:18.941
  • "abba," they'll say, or "ima" for their mother, and so this is
  • 00:13:18.941 --> 00:13:22.645
  • What god has done for you.
  • 00:13:22.645 --> 00:13:24.313
  • "he's predestined us for adoption to sonship through
  • 00:13:24.313 --> 00:13:27.783
  • Jesus christ in accordance with his pleasure and will,"
  • 00:13:27.783 --> 00:13:30.953
  • Ephesians 1:5 tells us.
  • 00:13:30.953 --> 00:13:32.755
  • So you were adopted, not assigned.
  • 00:13:32.755 --> 00:13:35.424
  • You are specifically chosen by god.
  • 00:13:35.424 --> 00:13:38.561
  • But aren't we all, some would ask, children of god?
  • 00:13:38.561 --> 00:13:41.897
  • You hear that said often.
  • 00:13:41.897 --> 00:13:43.732
  • We're all god's children, right?
  • 00:13:43.732 --> 00:13:47.536
  • Kind of.
  • 00:13:47.536 --> 00:13:48.904
  • Let me explain.
  • 00:13:48.904 --> 00:13:50.239
  • We are god's offspring, the bible says, which means we're
  • 00:13:50.239 --> 00:13:53.209
  • All created by god, we're all loved by god, but only those who
  • 00:13:53.209 --> 00:13:58.280
  • Have put their faith in christ can truly say, "i am a child
  • 00:13:58.280 --> 00:14:02.218
  • Of god."
  • 00:14:02.218 --> 00:14:03.686
  • The bible says: "for as many as received him, to them he gave
  • 00:14:03.686 --> 00:14:07.323
  • The power to become sons of god."
  • 00:14:07.323 --> 00:14:09.925
  • And, you know, you can be in a relationship with god but not
  • 00:14:09.925 --> 00:14:14.997
  • Be in fellowship with god.
  • 00:14:14.997 --> 00:14:17.499
  • Point number five: the return of jesus christ should cause us to
  • 00:14:17.499 --> 00:14:22.538
  • Want to live godly lives.
  • 00:14:22.538 --> 00:14:24.540
  • The return of jesus christ should cause us to want to live
  • 00:14:24.540 --> 00:14:28.878
  • Godly lives.
  • 00:14:28.878 --> 00:14:30.246
  • 1 john 3:2, "beloved, now we're the children of god, it's not
  • 00:14:30.246 --> 00:14:33.315
  • Yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know when he's
  • 00:14:33.315 --> 00:14:35.818
  • Revealed we'll be like him, for we'll see him as he is.
  • 00:14:35.818 --> 00:14:39.288
  • Everyone that has his hope in him purifies himself just as he
  • 00:14:39.288 --> 00:14:44.126
  • Is pure."
  • 00:14:44.126 --> 00:14:45.461
  • So makeovers are very popular these days.
  • 00:14:45.461 --> 00:14:47.897
  • They do home makeovers.
  • 00:14:47.897 --> 00:14:49.331
  • There's tv shows dedicated to the theme of making your home
  • 00:14:49.331 --> 00:14:53.035
  • Over, and then they do wardrobe makeovers and changing
  • 00:14:53.035 --> 00:14:57.473
  • Your appearance.
  • 00:14:57.473 --> 00:14:58.807
  • One day, god is going to accomplish the ultimate makeover
  • 00:14:58.807 --> 00:15:03.879
  • When the bible says we shall be like him.
  • 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:06.715
  • There's coming a day when we will see jesus christ face to
  • 00:15:06.715 --> 00:15:09.919
  • Face, and at that moment everything you've ever struggled
  • 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:13.422
  • With will be gone.
  • 00:15:13.422 --> 00:15:15.090
  • The sinful nature gone, your doubts gone, your pain gone,
  • 00:15:15.090 --> 00:15:20.529
  • Everything gone, the ultimate makeover because god sees you
  • 00:15:20.529 --> 00:15:24.166
  • For what you can become.
  • 00:15:24.166 --> 00:15:27.202
  • I don't know if you've ever seen the amazing sculpture of
  • 00:15:27.202 --> 00:15:30.739
  • Michelangelo of david.
  • 00:15:30.739 --> 00:15:33.809
  • It's one of the most magnificent things i've ever seen.
  • 00:15:33.809 --> 00:15:37.513
  • It's gigantic.
  • 00:15:37.513 --> 00:15:39.181
  • And it's hard to believe that a single man did that out of a
  • 00:15:39.181 --> 00:15:43.786
  • Single slab of marble, and in fact, the piece of marble that
  • 00:15:43.786 --> 00:15:48.590
  • Michelangelo sculpted david out of was considered flawed by
  • 00:15:48.590 --> 00:15:53.162
  • Other sculptors who rejected it, but michelangelo chose it.
  • 00:15:53.162 --> 00:15:58.033
  • And as he was walking around it and looking at the slab of
  • 00:15:58.033 --> 00:16:01.870
  • Marble, he said to one of the workers, "i see david," and the
  • 00:16:01.870 --> 00:16:06.442
  • Worker said, "i don't see anything.
  • 00:16:06.442 --> 00:16:08.477
  • I just see a slab of marble."
  • 00:16:08.477 --> 00:16:10.612
  • Michelangelo said, "yes, but i see david."
  • 00:16:10.612 --> 00:16:13.048
  • So he saw what he could make out of the slab of marble, and god
  • 00:16:13.048 --> 00:16:17.753
  • Sees what he can make out of you.
  • 00:16:17.753 --> 00:16:20.422
  • You see flaws, right?
  • 00:16:20.422 --> 00:16:25.761
  • We see the flaws.
  • 00:16:25.761 --> 00:16:27.529
  • God sees them, too, but he also sees the potential.
  • 00:16:27.529 --> 00:16:32.034
  • He sees what you can become.
  • 00:16:32.034 --> 00:16:34.970
  • And in the same way, as we think about the last days, we should
  • 00:16:34.970 --> 00:16:39.174
  • Be thinking about what we should be doing.
  • 00:16:39.174 --> 00:16:42.244
  • Sometimes we get caught up in the minutiae of prophetic events
  • 00:16:42.244 --> 00:16:46.882
  • And their order, and we argue about this and that, and we miss
  • 00:16:46.882 --> 00:16:50.786
  • The big picture.
  • 00:16:50.786 --> 00:16:52.821
  • The big picture is if i really believe jesus christ could come
  • 00:16:52.821 --> 00:16:56.759
  • Back at any moment, it should affect the way that i live.
  • 00:16:56.759 --> 00:17:01.030
  • "he that has this hope purifies himself even as he is pure," or
  • 00:17:01.030 --> 00:17:07.336
  • Cleans himself up.
  • 00:17:07.336 --> 00:17:08.704
  • Let's say you had a very important guest coming over to
  • 00:17:08.704 --> 00:17:11.340
  • Your house for dinner tonight,
  • 00:17:11.340 --> 00:17:13.909
  • And they were going to arrive at 5 o'clock.
  • 00:17:13.909 --> 00:17:15.711
  • You would have your house spick and span.
  • 00:17:15.711 --> 00:17:18.347
  • You would have everything organized.
  • 00:17:18.347 --> 00:17:20.182
  • You would have everything ready for this important guest that
  • 00:17:20.182 --> 00:17:23.519
  • Was coming to your home.
  • 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:24.853
  • So as we wait for christ, we want to clean our life up if
  • 00:17:24.853 --> 00:17:28.323
  • Necessary and get rid of any things that don't belong there.
  • 00:17:28.323 --> 00:17:32.795
  • Romans 13:12 says, "the night is almost gone; the day of
  • 00:17:32.795 --> 00:17:37.466
  • Salvation will soon be here.
  • 00:17:37.466 --> 00:17:39.535
  • So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the
  • 00:17:39.535 --> 00:17:44.173
  • Shining armor of right living."
  • 00:17:44.173 --> 00:17:47.576
  • And if we really believe jesus is coming, we will not be
  • 00:17:47.576 --> 00:17:52.347
  • Sinless, but we should sin less.
  • 00:17:52.347 --> 00:17:56.552
  • Look at 1 john 3: "whoever commits sin also commits
  • 00:17:56.552 --> 00:18:00.389
  • Lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
  • 00:18:00.389 --> 00:18:02.891
  • And you know that he was manifested to take away our sin,
  • 00:18:02.891 --> 00:18:06.261
  • And in him there is no sin.
  • 00:18:06.261 --> 00:18:08.263
  • Whoever abides in him does not sin.
  • 00:18:08.263 --> 00:18:11.400
  • Whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him."
  • 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:16.472
  • Wait, hold on now.
  • 00:18:16.472 --> 00:18:18.474
  • Are you saying if i'm a real christian waiting for christ to
  • 00:18:18.474 --> 00:18:22.177
  • Come back, i should not sin?
  • 00:18:22.177 --> 00:18:24.780
  • Well, not exactly, because earlier in 1 john 1:8 we read:
  • 00:18:24.780 --> 00:18:29.418
  • "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourself and the truth is
  • 00:18:29.418 --> 00:18:32.521
  • Not in us."
  • 00:18:32.521 --> 00:18:33.856
  • So, clearly we sin.
  • 00:18:33.856 --> 00:18:35.190
  • Even after we're christians, we sin.
  • 00:18:35.190 --> 00:18:37.459
  • So what is john saying here, that "if you are abiding in him,
  • 00:18:37.459 --> 00:18:41.697
  • You will not sin"?
  • 00:18:41.697 --> 00:18:43.065
  • Well, in the original language it's explained.
  • 00:18:43.065 --> 00:18:45.634
  • It would better be translated, "whoever habitually sins" or
  • 00:18:45.634 --> 00:18:50.539
  • "whoever practices sin," you see.
  • 00:18:50.539 --> 00:18:54.710
  • So it's not a person that sins.
  • 00:18:54.710 --> 00:18:56.044
  • It's a person that lives in sin, that practices sin, that is
  • 00:18:56.044 --> 00:19:00.616
  • Unapologetic about sin.
  • 00:19:00.616 --> 00:19:02.718
  • Maybe they even celebrate that sin.
  • 00:19:02.718 --> 00:19:06.121
  • John is saying you can't live that way and call yourself a
  • 00:19:06.121 --> 00:19:09.358
  • True believer.
  • 00:19:09.358 --> 00:19:10.692
  • The theological term for it is antinomianism.
  • 00:19:10.692 --> 00:19:15.197
  • If you're looking for a name for your new dog, you might do that.
  • 00:19:15.197 --> 00:19:18.667
  • "let's name him antinomianism.
  • 00:19:18.667 --> 00:19:20.502
  • Antinomianism, sit," you know, whatever, but you know, it's an
  • 00:19:20.502 --> 00:19:25.307
  • Interesting term.
  • 00:19:25.307 --> 00:19:26.708
  • It's basically the mentality that says, "i'm a christian, i'm
  • 00:19:26.708 --> 00:19:32.548
  • Saved, i'm forgiven, therefore i can do whatever i want."
  • 00:19:32.548 --> 00:19:37.853
  • Well, that is not true.
  • 00:19:37.853 --> 00:19:39.221
  • That's unbiblical.
  • 00:19:39.221 --> 00:19:40.722
  • That's what john is dealing with here.
  • 00:19:40.722 --> 00:19:44.593
  • He says if that's the case, if you're living comfortably in sin
  • 00:19:44.593 --> 00:19:48.197
  • Without any desire to repent, then you don't know him.
  • 00:19:48.197 --> 00:19:52.801
  • Again, that's anti-christ.
  • 00:19:52.801 --> 00:19:54.803
  • In other words, it's "instead of christ" thinking.
  • 00:19:54.803 --> 00:19:58.173
  • It would be like joining a gym.
  • 00:19:58.173 --> 00:20:00.876
  • And so you get, you know, the best outfit possible.
  • 00:20:00.876 --> 00:20:04.379
  • You get the ultimate shoes and you get the giant water bottle.
  • 00:20:04.379 --> 00:20:08.250
  • What's the thing with these giant water bottles?
  • 00:20:08.250 --> 00:20:11.119
  • They just get bigger and bigger.
  • 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:12.788
  • They're made out of metal.
  • 00:20:12.788 --> 00:20:14.156
  • They weigh 30 pounds.
  • 00:20:14.156 --> 00:20:16.091
  • I saw someone the other day carrying a big sparkletts bottle
  • 00:20:16.091 --> 00:20:18.827
  • On their shoulder, you know.
  • 00:20:18.827 --> 00:20:20.462
  • "just in case i get dehydrated for four minutes."
  • 00:20:20.462 --> 00:20:24.466
  • Like, drinking fountains still exist.
  • 00:20:24.466 --> 00:20:26.935
  • There is water out there somewhere, but no, we have to
  • 00:20:26.935 --> 00:20:30.572
  • Carry the giant water bottles, but i digress.
  • 00:20:30.572 --> 00:20:32.741
  • So you got the outfit, you got the shoes, you know, and then
  • 00:20:32.741 --> 00:20:35.744
  • You're in the gym and you take selfies of yourself,
  • 00:20:35.744 --> 00:20:38.914
  • Selfie, selfie.
  • 00:20:38.914 --> 00:20:40.249
  • Don't--please, if you go to a gym, don't take selfies
  • 00:20:40.249 --> 00:20:42.184
  • Of yourself.
  • 00:20:42.184 --> 00:20:43.552
  • How many of you do that?
  • 00:20:43.552 --> 00:20:44.886
  • No, don't raise your hand.
  • 00:20:44.886 --> 00:20:46.221
  • It's--'cause you would raise your hand.
  • 00:20:46.221 --> 00:20:48.390
  • You know, #fitforlife--shut up.
  • 00:20:48.390 --> 00:20:51.927
  • Just shut up and work out and get out, okay, just, please.
  • 00:20:51.927 --> 00:20:59.001
  • But what if you joined the gym and then you just ate doughnuts?
  • 00:20:59.001 --> 00:21:04.172
  • You go in, but you ate doughnuts at a place next door.
  • 00:21:04.172 --> 00:21:08.243
  • And so you're getting in shape, just the wrong shape.
  • 00:21:08.243 --> 00:21:13.382
  • You're in more the shape of a pear.
  • 00:21:13.382 --> 00:21:15.884
  • In fact, people are calling you the lord's pear.
  • 00:21:15.884 --> 00:21:18.120
  • You don't like that so much, do you?
  • 00:21:18.120 --> 00:21:20.889
  • Well, that would be antinomianism.
  • 00:21:20.889 --> 00:21:22.758
  • In other words, "oh well, i belong to a gym.
  • 00:21:22.758 --> 00:21:24.826
  • That's all i need.
  • 00:21:24.826 --> 00:21:26.161
  • I have membership in a gym."
  • 00:21:26.161 --> 00:21:27.529
  • No, you got to go to the gym and you got to work out.
  • 00:21:27.529 --> 00:21:30.332
  • You gotta do what you gotta do to get in the right shape.
  • 00:21:30.332 --> 00:21:34.069
  • And there are people that say, "well, i'm a christian.
  • 00:21:34.069 --> 00:21:36.004
  • I prayed that little prayer at a harvest crusade ten years ago,
  • 00:21:36.004 --> 00:21:40.042
  • You know, and i'm going to heaven now.
  • 00:21:40.042 --> 00:21:41.443
  • I can live like hell."
  • 00:21:41.443 --> 00:21:43.345
  • Doesn't work that way.
  • 00:21:43.345 --> 00:21:44.880
  • If you're a true christian, you wanna walk with christ.
  • 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:48.116
  • You'll never be sinless, but you should sin less and purify
  • 00:21:48.116 --> 00:21:53.722
  • Yourself, clean yourself up as you wait for him to return.
  • 00:21:53.722 --> 00:21:59.661
  • Point number seven: we need to be rooted in christ as we await
  • 00:21:59.661 --> 00:22:04.633
  • His return.
  • 00:22:04.633 --> 00:22:06.034
  • John says, "whoever abides in him," 1 john 3:16--3:6, "does
  • 00:22:06.034 --> 00:22:11.173
  • Not sin--sin habitually again."
  • 00:22:11.173 --> 00:22:13.942
  • Abide in him.
  • 00:22:13.942 --> 00:22:16.611
  • So it comes down to this: one thing takes the place
  • 00:22:16.611 --> 00:22:19.381
  • Of another.
  • 00:22:19.381 --> 00:22:21.083
  • An old puritan preacher phrased it this way: it's the expulsive
  • 00:22:21.083 --> 00:22:26.154
  • Power of a new affection.
  • 00:22:26.154 --> 00:22:29.257
  • I like that phrase, "the expulsive power of a
  • 00:22:29.257 --> 00:22:33.795
  • New affection."
  • 00:22:33.795 --> 00:22:35.130
  • In other words, my affection for something new overpowered that
  • 00:22:35.130 --> 00:22:39.768
  • Old affection, a stronger love drove out the lesser love.
  • 00:22:39.768 --> 00:22:44.873
  • You let go of something when you find something better to take
  • 00:22:44.873 --> 00:22:48.777
  • Its place.
  • 00:22:48.777 --> 00:22:50.145
  • You don't overcome sin by trying harder.
  • 00:22:50.145 --> 00:22:52.914
  • You overcome it by loving jesus more.
  • 00:22:52.914 --> 00:22:56.518
  • And that brings me to my final point: abiding in christ is the
  • 00:22:56.518 --> 00:23:00.622
  • Golden key to spiritual growth.
  • 00:23:00.622 --> 00:23:03.892
  • Abiding in christ is the golden key to spiritual growth.
  • 00:23:03.892 --> 00:23:08.563
  • You know, we're always looking for the shortcut to spiritual
  • 00:23:08.563 --> 00:23:12.467
  • Growth, like how am i gonna become a greater man or woman
  • 00:23:12.467 --> 00:23:16.238
  • Of god?
  • 00:23:16.238 --> 00:23:17.572
  • Well, that's a good thing to think about and want to be, but
  • 00:23:17.572 --> 00:23:20.308
  • There's no shortcuts.
  • 00:23:20.308 --> 00:23:21.676
  • It's literally every day getting up and putting one foot in front
  • 00:23:21.676 --> 00:23:24.813
  • Of the other and walking with god.
  • 00:23:24.813 --> 00:23:27.682
  • As one person put it: long obedience in the same direction.
  • 00:23:27.682 --> 00:23:32.854
  • There's no shortcut.
  • 00:23:32.854 --> 00:23:34.222
  • It's going to take time, but what better way to spend your
  • 00:23:34.222 --> 00:23:37.192
  • Time than walking with the lord.
  • 00:23:37.192 --> 00:23:39.361
  • Every day i get up, i'm going to read the word of god.
  • 00:23:39.361 --> 00:23:41.730
  • Every day i get up, i'm going to pray.
  • 00:23:41.730 --> 00:23:43.799
  • Every day i get up, i'm going to want to be more christ-like.
  • 00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:48.136
  • It's being a vital part of the church.
  • 00:23:48.136 --> 00:23:50.739
  • It's regularity.
  • 00:23:50.739 --> 00:23:52.107
  • It's consistency.
  • 00:23:52.107 --> 00:23:53.642
  • Abide means to sink your roots deeply into something.
  • 00:23:53.642 --> 00:23:58.513
  • It means to stay in a given place, to remain or to continue.
  • 00:23:58.513 --> 00:24:05.020
  • Like, let's say i planted a tree in my front yard and i watched
  • 00:24:05.020 --> 00:24:09.891
  • It start to grow and watered it and i thought, "yeah, you know,
  • 00:24:09.891 --> 00:24:12.727
  • This would be better in the backyard."
  • 00:24:12.727 --> 00:24:14.362
  • So i dig it up, take it to the backyard, plant it there, leave
  • 00:24:14.362 --> 00:24:17.666
  • It there for a couple of days.
  • 00:24:17.666 --> 00:24:19.034
  • "oh man, it was better in the front yard."
  • 00:24:19.034 --> 00:24:20.368
  • I pluck it up again, pull it back, put it in the front yard.
  • 00:24:20.368 --> 00:24:23.138
  • "oh, i don't know, i'm going by the back."
  • 00:24:23.138 --> 00:24:24.606
  • After four or five times of doing this, that tree is dead
  • 00:24:24.606 --> 00:24:28.610
  • Because you've not let the tree get rooted, and we uproot
  • 00:24:28.610 --> 00:24:32.013
  • Ourself, "oh, i'm here.
  • 00:24:32.013 --> 00:24:33.381
  • Now i'm gonna move over there, and now i'm gonna read
  • 00:24:33.381 --> 00:24:35.150
  • The bible, now i'm not gonna read the bible.
  • 00:24:35.150 --> 00:24:36.852
  • I'm gonna pray, i'm not gonna pray.
  • 00:24:36.852 --> 00:24:38.453
  • I'm gonna be in this church, or i'm gonna be in that church.
  • 00:24:38.453 --> 00:24:40.555
  • I'm gonna be in another church."
  • 00:24:40.555 --> 00:24:42.257
  • You're not abiding.
  • 00:24:42.257 --> 00:24:44.025
  • You know, as "the great lebowski" reminds us, "the
  • 00:24:44.025 --> 00:24:48.163
  • Dude abides."
  • 00:24:48.163 --> 00:24:50.499
  • The dude needs to abide.
  • 00:24:50.499 --> 00:24:53.068
  • You need to sink your roots deeply into christ, and that is
  • 00:24:53.068 --> 00:24:57.672
  • The secret to spiritual growth.
  • 00:24:57.672 --> 00:25:00.375
  • Someone sums it up perfectly: "blessed or happy is the man
  • 00:25:00.375 --> 00:25:04.746
  • That walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the
  • 00:25:04.746 --> 00:25:08.483
  • Way of sinners, or sits in the seat of the scornful, but his
  • 00:25:08.483 --> 00:25:12.420
  • Delight is in the word of the lord, and in it does he meditate
  • 00:25:12.420 --> 00:25:16.758
  • Day and night.
  • 00:25:16.758 --> 00:25:18.627
  • He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that
  • 00:25:18.627 --> 00:25:22.564
  • Brings forth fruit in its season, and whatever he does
  • 00:25:22.564 --> 00:25:25.901
  • Shall prosper."
  • 00:25:25.901 --> 00:25:27.235
  • See, it's all there, right there in psalm 1.
  • 00:25:27.235 --> 00:25:32.274
  • Greg: there are so many things to be worried about right now,
  • 00:25:36.511 --> 00:25:38.813
  • Aren't there?
  • 00:25:38.813 --> 00:25:40.148
  • The worrying about terrorism,
  • 00:25:40.148 --> 00:25:41.716
  • Worry about your personal safety, violent crime,
  • 00:25:41.716 --> 00:25:44.819
  • The economy, the list goes on.
  • 00:25:44.819 --> 00:25:47.022
  • Here's what the bible says, "don't worry about anything.
  • 00:25:47.022 --> 00:25:50.559
  • Pray about everything."
  • 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:52.961
  • Turn your panic into prayer.
  • 00:25:52.961 --> 00:25:56.097
  • Jesus said, "come unto me, all of you that are laboring and are
  • 00:25:56.097 --> 00:25:59.200
  • Heavy laden, i will give you rest."
  • 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:01.770
  • Give your burdens, give your problems over to god and let him
  • 00:26:01.770 --> 00:26:06.408
  • Give you his peace in your heart.
  • 00:26:06.408 --> 00:26:10.579
  • Let me send for you, at no charge, what i call a new
  • 00:26:10.579 --> 00:26:14.115
  • Believer's bible to help you grow in a relationship with god
  • 00:26:14.115 --> 00:26:19.354
  • And learn how to turn your panic into prayer and your worry
  • 00:26:19.354 --> 00:26:23.425
  • Into worship.
  • 00:26:23.425 --> 00:26:26.027
  • Greg: hey, greg laurie here. maybe you've seen this...
  • 00:26:30.165 --> 00:26:32.334
  • This is called the "new believer's bible," and a number
  • 00:26:32.334 --> 00:26:35.837
  • Of years ago, i wanted to do an edition of scripture with
  • 00:26:35.837 --> 00:26:40.542
  • Commentary that would make the bible more accessible to someone
  • 00:26:40.542 --> 00:26:45.413
  • Who's never read it before, like a new believer.
  • 00:26:45.413 --> 00:26:48.450
  • But today we live, of course, in a digital world,
  • 00:26:48.450 --> 00:26:52.253
  • So we've taken the curriculum from the "new believer's bible"
  • 00:26:52.253 --> 00:26:55.557
  • And we've created this online community of people just like
  • 00:26:55.557 --> 00:26:59.027
  • You who are studying the word of god together.
  • 00:26:59.027 --> 00:27:02.464
  • By the way, this is free of charge, you can learn at
  • 00:27:02.464 --> 00:27:05.233
  • Your own pace, but most importantly, you'll experience
  • 00:27:05.233 --> 00:27:08.937
  • The power of god's word to transform your life.
  • 00:27:08.937 --> 00:27:12.574
  • The bible says, of itself, it's alive and powerful and sharper
  • 00:27:12.574 --> 00:27:17.412
  • Than any two-edged sword, so i hope you'll take your phone
  • 00:27:17.412 --> 00:27:21.316
  • Right now and join us online at harvest discipleship.
  • 00:27:21.316 --> 00:27:25.620
  • Let's learn and grow together.
  • 00:27:25.620 --> 00:27:28.423