WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.840 Real life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim 2 00:00:05.840 --> 00:00:11.600 truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. The decree of God means that he 3 00:00:11.600 --> 00:00:16.120 knows all things that actually happen and all things that would have happened 4 00:00:16.120 --> 00:00:20.020 he knows. Isn't that kind of cool? So if you're going down a road and there's a 5 00:00:20.020 --> 00:00:23.720 why in the road, if you go right and you're talking you're thinking about God 6 00:00:23.720 --> 00:00:27.160 and you said, whoa it did God know I was gonna go right? I'm gonna oh I'm gonna 7 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:31.680 back up and I'm gonna go left. You're not teaching him anything. He already 8 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:36.080 knows. In fact, you can go right and stay right for the rest of your life. He 9 00:00:36.080 --> 00:00:41.080 knows what would have happened if he would have gone left. 10 00:00:41.080 --> 00:00:47.680 You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. 11 00:00:47.680 --> 00:00:52.920 Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled 12 00:00:52.920 --> 00:00:57.720 life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us, 13 00:00:57.720 --> 00:01:02.880 that's like saying amen or yes, then that rating will encourage others to 14 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:09.360 listen. Now open your hearts to what God's word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. 15 00:01:09.360 --> 00:01:15.600 Where are you on this issue of heaven and hell? Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior 16 00:01:15.600 --> 00:01:22.560 are not. Because God and His mercy and gifting provides eternal life and 17 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:28.280 forgiveness through His sacrifice. We give Him all the things. But if you say no 18 00:01:28.280 --> 00:01:33.840 to God's offer and refuse it, then by default there's a hell that quite frankly 19 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:38.440 you have demanded that you go there. Just know this. The Bible says God is not 20 00:01:38.440 --> 00:01:44.560 willing that any shaperish but that all should come to eternal life. The book of 21 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:51.440 Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 says, just as He chose us, this is awesome. Just as 22 00:01:51.440 --> 00:01:57.760 He chose us in Him that's Christ before the foundation of the world. That's a 23 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:03.480 long time ago people. That we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. 24 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:10.800 Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself according 25 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:18.360 to the good pleasure of His will. This two verses here, it's pregnant with 26 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:22.360 theology. Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that's 27 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:27.280 four knowledge. Did you know that? God knew you before the universe was ever 28 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:31.680 created. He can't learn anything. We'll find out more of this in this in the 29 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:36.080 sermon today. But that He should be holy and without blame before Him in love. 30 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:40.800 Listen, you and I came to Christ on such and such a day and time. Remember, you 31 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:45.200 marked your Bible or you marked your calendar. Did you know that you arrived at 32 00:02:45.200 --> 00:02:50.480 some moment of conversion that God knew before the world was ever created that 33 00:02:50.480 --> 00:02:54.840 you would arrive at that moment? Did you know that? He was just waiting for you to 34 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:59.240 show up. Of course, I'm joking. God doesn't wait. He lives in the eternal now. 35 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:04.920 That's the best way we can describe it. He's eternal. There's no past to Him. 36 00:03:04.920 --> 00:03:09.840 There's no present. There's no future. There's the now. And He sees everything at 37 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:16.480 one moment of time. It's impossible for us to fan them. You and I live in a 38 00:03:16.480 --> 00:03:22.800 line, a timeline. But notice that He does everything that He does do according to 39 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:28.680 His good pleasure. That's God's nature. In this, by the way, is describing the 40 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:36.480 omniscience of God, omniscience, omniscience, the all-knowingness of God. In that, 41 00:03:36.480 --> 00:03:40.480 by the way, in that doctrine of the omniscience of God, it means that God cannot 42 00:03:40.480 --> 00:03:45.680 learn anything. Isn't that amazing? That's, it's funny when we pray sometimes. You 43 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:49.560 know you pray with people sometimes and they're informing God of their 44 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:54.600 situation. And it's like, you know what, kept to the chase, get to it. Here 45 00:03:54.640 --> 00:04:01.320 already knows. Speak to Him about it. But He knows all things. In theology, what is 46 00:04:01.320 --> 00:04:10.080 known as decree, the decree of God, not degree, decree. The decree of God means that He 47 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:15.040 knows all things that actually happen and all things that would have happened, He 48 00:04:15.040 --> 00:04:19.560 knows. Isn't that kind of cool? So if you're going down a road and there's a Y in the 49 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:23.600 road, if you go right and you're talking, you're thinking about God and He said, 50 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:27.200 who it? Did God know I was going to go right? I'm going to, oh, I'm going to back up and I'm 51 00:04:27.200 --> 00:04:36.320 going to go left. You're not teaching him anything. He already knows. In fact, you can go 52 00:04:36.320 --> 00:04:40.000 right and stay right for the rest of your life. He knows what would have happened if 53 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:45.240 you would have gone left. Is that awesome? I love how big our God is. He's so big it's 54 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:50.120 going to take eternity for us to get to know Him and even then to be scratching, I 55 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:56.360 think, the surface. But it's the all-knowing God. That's his attribute, all-knowing. 56 00:04:56.360 --> 00:05:00.880 In Jeremiah, chapter 1, verse 5, the Bible says, therefore, this is God speaking to 57 00:05:00.880 --> 00:05:04.720 Jeremiah. He's only a teenager. Hey, listen, remind your teenager that Jeremiah was a 58 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:10.760 teenager. God spoke to him and he said, before I formed you in the womb, I knew 59 00:05:10.760 --> 00:05:16.320 you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the 60 00:05:16.320 --> 00:05:23.460 nations. Did you know? Isn't that great? Listen, before I was, God knew Jack in the 61 00:05:23.460 --> 00:05:32.400 womb. You say, you don't know Jack. God, it's actually true. I don't know me. The 62 00:05:32.400 --> 00:05:37.240 Bible says our hearts are desperately wicked who can know them. But God knew me and my 63 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:42.920 mother's womb. He didn't learn about me. He didn't get the, there was no reveal of 64 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:51.880 gender. He already knew. He's God. And that's true for all of you, by the way. In all of 65 00:05:51.880 --> 00:05:59.400 the eternity past, if we can put it that way, God knew you. The Bible also says in Joshua 66 00:05:59.400 --> 00:06:07.040 chapter 24, verse 15, we'll talk more on this later. Joshua 24, verse 15. Joshua says, 67 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:12.720 and if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourself this day whom you will 68 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:18.520 serve. Well, wait a minute, Joshua, you're acting like people have a choice. Of course, they 69 00:06:18.520 --> 00:06:24.000 have a choice. Whether the gods, which are your father's served, which are on the other 70 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:29.600 side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, and whose land you dwell, but as for me and 71 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:37.200 my house, we will serve the Lord. That implies choice. But the question is, when you and I make 72 00:06:37.200 --> 00:06:43.920 a decision in the moment that you and I are living in, in our lifetime, but God knows those 73 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:48.960 before you and I ever arrive on the world center. You guys okay with this so far? It's kind 74 00:06:48.960 --> 00:06:56.320 of like really what? Yes, think bigger regarding your God. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 11, tells 75 00:06:56.400 --> 00:07:04.640 us, in him also we have obtained an inheritance. Here it comes, being predestined according to the 76 00:07:04.640 --> 00:07:11.840 purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. The counsel of his will 77 00:07:11.840 --> 00:07:18.160 speaks about his foreign knowledge. Watch, he knows everything in advance and so based on that, 78 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:29.680 he executes his sovereign will, vitally important. And then finally, always this by talking about 79 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:35.440 this issue of God's foreign knowledge, the sovereignty of God in predestination, Romans chapter 8, 80 00:07:35.440 --> 00:07:45.040 verse 29, for whom he for new, this would be a good tattoo. He also predestined, excuse me, 81 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:51.520 everybody, verse 29, what comes first? Foreign knowledge. Number two, predestination. 82 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:57.840 To be conformed to the image of his son, that's number three, that he might be the first born 83 00:07:57.840 --> 00:08:03.520 among many brethren, moreover whom he predestined, these he also called, whom he called these he also 84 00:08:03.520 --> 00:08:10.720 justified and we justified, these he also glorified. Notice, you can't have three of these or one 85 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:17.760 or four, it's a package deal. If based on God's foreign knowledge, you are a believer in the 86 00:08:17.760 --> 00:08:23.920 Lord Jesus Christ, everything else is true about your life or none of it's true. Are you getting 87 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:30.560 this? This is amazing stuff. This should cause you to get excited and rather be insecure about 88 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:37.680 Romans chapter 9, 10, and 11 to make you be settled and secured. This is not God being limited, 89 00:08:37.680 --> 00:08:45.120 this is God being expansive. That's why you've heard God say, come unto me. Jesus said, 90 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:51.920 whoever believes in me, God is inviting. The question is how are you responding? When God says, 91 00:08:52.720 --> 00:09:00.400 I do not want to see the wicked perish, what do you think that means? It means he doesn't want to 92 00:09:00.400 --> 00:09:05.520 see the wicked perish. When the Bible says that God weeps over the death of the wicked, what do you 93 00:09:05.520 --> 00:09:12.480 think that means? It means he weeps over the death of the wicked. Nowhere in the scriptures does 94 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:19.600 God say, any, meany, mindy mo, you get the good of heaven and you blow. Very good, thank you. 95 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:30.640 That's not how it is. And then this is where we left off last time. It's this, the security of God's 96 00:09:30.640 --> 00:09:36.000 sovereignty, the sovereignty of God. We see it this way, the security of his sovereign word. 97 00:09:36.560 --> 00:09:45.600 God's word is not of this world. The creator God has given us his word, the word of God. Church 98 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:52.160 family, God's word is intact and God's word is true and it will never change. The promises that God 99 00:09:52.160 --> 00:09:58.720 gives to us, you can bank on them literally. You can hang onto them. You can trust him. You and I 100 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:03.840 may not be able to figure things out, but God's word is sovereign. God's word will not bend or 101 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:11.600 change or sway. The Bible there tells us in Romans 9, verse 6 and 7, but it is not that the word of 102 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:19.280 God has taken no effect. God's word is not weak for they are not all Israel who are of Israel. What does 103 00:10:19.280 --> 00:10:27.760 that mean? Not all those who are Israel or Israeli are actually Israeli according to God's math. 104 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:34.480 Well, I'll make it simple. Not everybody who says their Christians are Christians. That makes 105 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:40.080 sense now, right? That brings it closer to home. When somebody says in his Paul's argument is, 106 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:44.880 my brothers and sisters were saying to me, Paul would say, I'm going to go to heaven, Paul, no 107 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:49.600 matter what you say and no matter what you say about this Jesus. Here's the issue. I'm in Israeli, 108 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:54.640 I'm a Jew and I'm going to heaven, period. And Paul is saying, that's not how it works. 109 00:10:56.640 --> 00:11:02.960 He's been making his argument that the first Jew that ever was became a Jew because he worshiped 110 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:10.240 the God of heaven and that first Jew to become a Jew was a Gentile by the name of Abraham. 111 00:11:10.800 --> 00:11:19.440 What made Abraham a Jew? What made him a Hebrew? The fact that he was a worshipper of God. Listen, 112 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:25.200 but if you focus on the DNA, the bloodline of it in this world, you're missing it completely. 113 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:33.360 Nobody gets to heaven by bloodline. Nobody gets to heaven by being some sort of a noble. Thank God, 114 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:40.320 somebody say amen to that. Unless you're the king of England, I'm not, you're not, who'd want to be. 115 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:48.960 Thank God, he didn't establish his salvation for blue bloods only, but for all who trust him. 116 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:54.560 Jew and Gentile alike. And the Bible here tells us about the security of his sovereignty. 117 00:11:55.520 --> 00:12:00.960 That in this also in verse 8, we learn that it says in verse 8 that this, those who are the children 118 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:08.080 of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as 119 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:15.280 the seed. You and I, if you today believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, Savior of the world, 120 00:12:15.280 --> 00:12:19.440 that he died on the cross for your sins and rose again from the dead, that he is the one who the 121 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:25.280 Bible speaks of. If you put your trust in him, as Lord and Savior, meaning that you know that 122 00:12:25.280 --> 00:12:29.680 you're a sinner, you repent. You say, Lord, I've sinned against you, forgive me of my sins, 123 00:12:29.680 --> 00:12:34.480 I come to you and I make you the Lord of my life. I bow, I submit, I give you my life. 124 00:12:36.560 --> 00:12:45.280 In that very instant, you become a child of Abraham, like that, a child of God. 125 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:52.400 You're in the spiritual DNA. Think of it. And this is true for all people. 126 00:12:53.280 --> 00:13:01.520 Jew or Gentile, that is Jew or non-Jew, the entrance, the way is still the same, but not of works, 127 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:09.040 not of your own effort, with the best intentions. Has God made you a promise? Listen, 128 00:13:09.040 --> 00:13:13.840 when you read this book, when you read the Bible, and listen, I encourage you to always read it, 129 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:18.240 I always do that, but when you read it, you should expect God to speak to you out of this. If you're 130 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:24.640 not reading the Bible on a regular basis, then you're not expecting any promises to be fulfilled 131 00:13:24.640 --> 00:13:29.440 in your life. I'm telling you that right now, your walk is pretty boring, your Christianity is kind 132 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:34.800 of haphazard, you're kind of hitting this. But let me tell you, if you are opening up this book, 133 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:42.480 because you're going to seek him for this day to see what he has to say to you, he will speak out 134 00:13:42.560 --> 00:13:51.040 of the pages of this book, and you're going to know it. His word will lift up, and it will pop out, 135 00:13:51.040 --> 00:13:55.680 and you'll say, that's what I need. I need that. And then the next thing is, if you're anything 136 00:13:55.680 --> 00:14:03.120 like me is, how would you know that? And then, of course, I know that you knew that. Thank you, God. 137 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:12.080 The book of Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verse 35 says, for their foot shall slip and do time. 138 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:20.080 For the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them. You have to 139 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:29.200 play that to verse 8, the children of the flesh, this relationship of promise, and who's born first, 140 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:35.360 and who's preeminent, and who is promise, and who is of the works. The Bible tells us that 141 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:40.880 the work of the flesh, these children of this world, of the flesh, are not the children of God. 142 00:14:40.880 --> 00:14:47.040 But look, you and I used to be children of the flesh. Didn't we used to do our own thing? 143 00:14:47.040 --> 00:14:50.800 Were we proud about it? Were we arrogant about it? In fact, I wrote down a few things. 144 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:56.400 If you're a child of the flesh, you're earthly-minded. Everything about this world. You're in hot 145 00:14:56.400 --> 00:15:01.440 pursuit of it. You think you've got the world by the tail. You've got to get more of the world. 146 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:08.240 You want to live it up. Oh, I like this. It's thrilling. Oh, the world. You're a child of the flesh. 147 00:15:09.280 --> 00:15:17.040 Also what? They are recognizable over time. A child living for this world is recognizable because 148 00:15:17.040 --> 00:15:25.520 they become exactly like the world it is that they live in. Just know this. Next, they're proud of 149 00:15:25.520 --> 00:15:31.840 themselves. Very proud, self-reliant, proud, self-made woman, self-made man. I don't need God. 150 00:15:34.160 --> 00:15:39.680 That's sad. If they're religious, they're proud of it. Have you ever seen this before? 151 00:15:41.280 --> 00:15:46.560 A child of this world, a child of the flesh, can have religion, but be so proud of their religion. 152 00:15:46.560 --> 00:15:57.920 They're proud, listen, of their lifestyle, whatever it is. Whatever it is. If they're living for, 153 00:15:57.920 --> 00:16:03.760 fill in the blank. The Bible says that you and I were just like that when we were children or 154 00:16:03.760 --> 00:16:10.480 sons and daughters of disobedience to God. The Bible is building its case. It's like a legal case 155 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:14.560 right here before us. In fact, I'm going to show you something. You know this well, but watch this. 156 00:16:14.560 --> 00:16:21.200 John chapter 3, verse 1, you know this very well. John chapter 3, verse 1, it's our friend 157 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:27.120 and Nicodemus. You know him encountering Jesus. So for those of you who don't know, let me elaborate. 158 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:34.800 There was a man of the Pharisees. That means this guy has got his name with alphabets behind it, 159 00:16:34.800 --> 00:16:42.320 descriptions. This dude is the guy. If anybody's going to heaven based on human terms, it's this guy. 160 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:47.600 If anybody keeps the law, it's this guy. If there's anybody who's an authority, it's this guy. 161 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:55.120 Anybody talks to God? It's this guy. He's it. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, 162 00:16:55.120 --> 00:17:00.400 a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are 163 00:17:00.400 --> 00:17:06.320 a teacher come from God for no one can do the signs or the miracles that you do unless God is with him. 164 00:17:07.280 --> 00:17:12.000 And Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly, I say to you, Jesus just cuts. I mean, 165 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:18.080 right for the throat. Not like thank you, I'm glad you noticed. Which miracle do you like specifically? 166 00:17:18.800 --> 00:17:23.360 No, I mean, wait, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 167 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:28.960 Ladies and gentlemen, this is the most important statement in all of information. 168 00:17:29.760 --> 00:17:36.880 Unless you're born a second time, you will not enter heaven. Who said that? Jesus said that. 169 00:17:38.080 --> 00:17:43.920 He says, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 170 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:50.160 Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter a second time into 171 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:56.960 his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born 172 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:03.680 of water that is of earthly birth and the spirit that is heavenly birth, he cannot enter the kingdom 173 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:10.240 of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That answers to the water, flesh life, your life, 174 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:16.400 my life, this life. And that which is born of the spirit is spirit, the born again life, the new 175 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:23.600 life. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. Listen, I think as Dr. Donald 176 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:30.240 Gray Barnhouse said that regarding being born again, if you read the Bible carefully, 177 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:37.520 here's what you want to do in life. You want to be born twice so you only have to die once. 178 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:51.200 Listen, if you're born once, you'll have to die twice. What does he mean? If you have this life, 179 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:57.440 if you can hear me right now, you've been born once. And when you die, the Bible says, 180 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:02.800 you die physical death and then you die spiritual death. It's a weird statement, spiritual death. 181 00:19:02.800 --> 00:19:10.240 It's a forever living spiritual death. Creepy. But if you're born twice, you only die once. 182 00:19:12.080 --> 00:19:17.920 The deal is this, be born twice, be born into this world. If you have, you can hear me being 183 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:24.400 born again. If you're born a second time, you can hear from heaven. And when that time comes, 184 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:30.880 you go straight to heaven. But listen, don't be the person that lives for all the glamour and 185 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:38.560 the gusto of this world. And you wind up dying twice physically and spiritually. Don't do that. 186 00:19:38.560 --> 00:19:47.840 This Jack Hibbs podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are 187 00:19:47.840 --> 00:19:55.680 listener supported. Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? Go to jackhibbs.com to 188 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.640 learn more and stay connected.