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Real life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim

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truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. Any culture in the world that

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fears retribution from the law, it doesn't matter what their belief system is,

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if there's a system of laws that puts fear in the mind of the citizen to keep

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them from doing evil, that's a good thing. You can get the outlines of this

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podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. Today, if this podcast lifts you

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up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, then make sure

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you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us, that's like saying amen or

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yes, then that rating will encourage others to listen. Now, open your hearts to

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what God's word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. So let's dive in, verse two,

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it says, therefore, whoever resists the authority, resists the ordinance of God,

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and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. Boom, period, just a

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tremendous statement. If you resist God given authority, you are going to bring

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judgment upon yourself and it's not going to go well with you. God has established

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this absolute truth. And we want to learn from this. We must be governed by laws

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every single one of us. And you do, you do know this. We all know this from the

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youngest of our children to the oldest of our saints. We all have to operate

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under rules to some degree. Before our pilgrim fathers stepped off the Mayflower,

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they had to come to an agreement. By the way, I don't want to bore you with this,

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although I think it's fascinating. Did you know, half the attendance, half the,

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half of those onboard the Mayflower, half of them were non-believers. Did you know that?

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Out of the 104 people, 102. There's 102 people, but there were two dogs. So people say there's

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104. Only 51 of them were believers. The rest were called strangers. That's what the pilgrims

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called unbelievers, strangers. And when the storm blew them off course, they were supposed to land

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in Virginia. That's what they had to permit from the king was to land the Mayflower in Virginia.

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But God in that great storm blew them way to the north into what was known as no man's land,

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where there was no charter, no permit needed. That if you landed there, it's yours.

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And they, the believers decided we are not getting off of this boat until we have a governing

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document. And the unbelievers finally accepted. They said, okay, that's so right. We'll do it.

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And by the way, none of the unbelievers cared about government. They cared about going and getting rich.

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It was only the believers who cared about a governing document, which you're going to appreciate

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in a second. Let's take a peek at it. And I'll read it to you. In the name of God,

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tell it starts, amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dreads sovereign

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Lord King James, by the grace of God, of great Britain, France, and Ireland, king, defender

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of the faith, having undertaken for the glory of God, the advancement of the Christian faith,

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and the honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts

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of Virginia, due by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one

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another, covenant, and combine ourselves together into a civil, body, politic. How many times

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is God referenced here? Think about it. Now remember, they thought they were going to be landing

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in Virginia. It turned out to be Massachusetts. But the whole thing was this. We're not

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stepping up this voter until we have governance. And for those of you, I know we had a president

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not too long ago, who said America has never been a Christian nation. Did you know that? He was

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very happy to say that. By the way, he said it in two locations, once in Cairo, Egypt, and then

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the other one was at Harvard University, and what was funny about him saying that at Harvard,

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look, if he says it in Cairo, Muslim nation, who cares? But if he says it at Harvard, this

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was hilarious, because behind him, the backdrop was a black cloth. You know why there was a

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black cloth? Because behind the cloth was an incredible wood carved wall of the cross and scripture

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Bible at Harvard University. And if you know your stuff, Harvard University was started by John

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Harvard, Pastor John Harvard. It was created to make pastors and missionaries to go out into America.

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But no, we were never a Christian nation. Forget, listen, listen, forget Cairo and forget

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Harvard. Go way back. Go way back to our founding fathers who declared we've come here to establish

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this continent for the glory of the gospel of Jesus. I'm not asking you to like it. I'm asking

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you to learn it. It was part of our history. You may not like it, but it's too bad. That's why people

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want to rewrite history. Let's get God out of it. Well, that would not be good. And so there's a

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question that's before us. When it says, for example, in verse three, for rulers are not a terror to

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good works. Those are going to do good things. Rulers don't terrify them, but evil people are

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terrified by rulers. We all know this is true. So do you want to be unafraid of the authority?

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Translation. So whenever there's a cop around, do you want to not be nervous? Just do the right thing.

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Just do the right thing. And what would the right thing be? Do the law. That officer is there to

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enforce the law. And God would say to us, do the law. And you won't be looking over your shoulder.

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Do what is good and you will have praise from the same. So here's a question. To what extent did

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the Roman Empire have authority over its citizens and the world at rule that's going to listen? Be

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careful. To what extent did the Roman Empire have authority over its citizens and the world that

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it ruled? The answer is, all authority. Who's authority was it, Roman Empire? It's under that

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empire that the church was born. Think of that. Jesus was born under the Roman Empire. So as a

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Roman citizen, what authority does the empire have over your life? All authority. But I'm not done.

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For the non-Christian, for Rome, absolute authority. But for the Christian, Rome had limited

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authority, which is why believers were viewed as enemies of the state. Why? Did you know that in

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our nation's history, in fact, the one who broke the rule, anybody remember JFK, John F. Kennedy?

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You want to know why it was very controversial for him to become a president?

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Very good, because he was a Catholic. We had never had a Catholic president. Did you know that

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our founding fathers refused to allow a Catholic to be not only in Congress, but to be a president?

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Because they wrote it. They said, the person may be very moral and very, very knowledgeable,

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but the problem is, for a constitution to work, if he's loyal to the Catholic church, it will mean

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that he's loyal to the Pope. And we can't have the Pope interfering on the operation of the

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constitution. They didn't want to have that distraction. Think of that for a moment. That's

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man, you mentioned that today. And it's like, you can't say that. But what a remarkable thing.

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That it was to be all of God, but to understand this, is it Rome, or is it the constitution,

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or is it the Bible, or is it Rome? And so listen, it is Rome, everybody, it is Rome, so to speak,

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right? It's the law of the land. It's America until America or Rome disobeys the will and the

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word of God. And this is where I believe our nation is at and that it's heading into more of those

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deeper waters. And you and I will all be called out as believers to eventually take a stand

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when our nation goes rogue and goes anti-god, what will the believer do? And so this is a very

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important thing. And remember, we touched on the example last time by Paul the Apostle, it's

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Acts chapter 25, verse 10, when Paul was being challenged, remember this everybody, Paul was being

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interviewed and examined and he was held prison for being a Christian. And it wasn't just for

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being a Christian. He got arrested for preaching the resurrection of Jesus. And so Paul said,

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in verse 10, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, this was in Caesarea, where I ought to be judged,

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I appeal to Caesar. And then Festus, when he had conferred with the counsel answered, you

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will appeal to Caesar and to Caesar, you shall go. Paul used his politic as a believer to advance

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the gospel. Nobody should be more adept at that than I believe as the American citizen should be,

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because we've got more rights and freedoms than anybody else in the planet. And regarding our

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Christian faith, we should exercise those freedoms to advance them. And that is lawful.

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Well, what happens if it becomes unlawful to mention Jesus? What will you do? I think I already know,

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I think I know what you'll do. But I think it's pretty clear to us, over the last five years,

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we know what pastors will do if the government says, don't speak in Jesus's name. The bulk of

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pastors in America stopped speaking in Jesus's name. No, we're not to do that. Verse 4 says,

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for he, that is the officer of the laws, God's minister, to you for good. And I need all of you

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to circle those two words. Please understand this. The authority, the establishment, the government,

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and the officer of the law has been put in place by God to do good. Everybody get that?

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Not to do evil. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. Now in our day,

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it's not that he has a sword. He has something worse. He has a ticket book. He has a pen.

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He doesn't bear that pen in vain. Why? Because when he writes that ticket, he's got the authority

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of the state behind him. Very powerful. But the Bible here is saying this individual that's been

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given to us by God is to enforce what's good. So you need to ask yourself, please, you don't

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need to answer out loud. Be asking yourself, if God establish government and the politics that I

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live under, including the apparatus that comes from it, fire, police, taxes, whatever. What do we

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do as believers when these things go bad or against God? Now let me make myself clear. There are many

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bad laws that we don't even talk about. There are many bad and inappropriate taxes that I'll never

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bring up. It's just part of being in the fallen world. But when somebody says, for example,

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no, no, the church will pay tax in this area to the state of California to pay for elective

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abortions for any woman in the state of California, worship dollars will be used for that purpose.

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The state said that and we refused to do that. We wouldn't do that. So we stood up against the state

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and so, oh, you can't do that. No, no, you don't understand. I must do that.

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But when the state says, we're going to take this money from you and we're going to have, we're going

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to pave, we're going to pave I-5 blue with blue asphalt. You're not going to hear a peep out of my

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mouth. I'm a pastor. I'm not a politician. If I was running for office, I would say, not blue,

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let's paint it green. That's a joke. I'm not going to get involved in that stuff. But when they say,

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oh, now this area, we are going to attack families. We are going to attack the unborn. We are going

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to attack worship. That's where you don't expect politicians, I don't expect politicians to stand

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up for the church. That's where that church comes in. And pastors come in to stand up for what is

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good and what is right. Because the officer does not bear his sword in vain for good.

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And so we have to live in a way of judgment with the word of God ever before us.

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And so kings and prime ministers and presidents and elected officials, they are allowed power

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to advance what's good. But who decides what's good? Who decides what's bad? And let's be honest,

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humans have tried, but we fail. God has written upon every human heart the moral law.

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We don't need to belabor that. Romans 1 verse 18 will add enough.

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For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all in godliness and unrighteousness of men

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that's mankind who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known of God is manifest

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in them. There's your answer inside they know. No matter what they say, it doesn't matter.

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Inside their head and heart, they know. For God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the

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world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made,

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even his eternal power and godhead. That's an amazing statement. According to the Bible,

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God has revealed inside every human being the Trinity. That's what the word Godhead is.

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Is that wild? You have to be a Christian. You don't have to be a theologian.

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God has revealed to you that the Holy Spirit is convicting you of sin and that every time you

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use the name of Jesus, you have an extra sense of dread in your heart and your life because

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you're thinking, I don't know why am I using that name in vain like that? Why am I doing that?

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Interesting. God's put that within us so that they are without excuse. Because although they

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knew God, they did not glorify Him as God nor were they thankful but became futile in their thoughts

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and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools. A tremendous

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statement indeed for sure. This does apply to all of us and to all elected officials as well.

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No one's exempt from the truth of God on this. By the way, when it says, professing themselves to be

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wise, they became fools. Look at the Greek word for fool. You might have some fun with this one.

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Morrani, the word means to be empty-headed, void, a willful ignorance, choosing to be as A and

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there's the word moron. That's where the word moron comes from. You thought somebody made that

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up. It's in the Bible. If you deny the existence of God, the Bible says, you're a moron.

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How do you like that? I don't think the Bible speaks through our age. Oh yeah? If you don't believe

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in God, the Bible says you're a moron. In fact, the most difficult verse in the entire Bible,

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you don't have to mess around with the Bible. You don't have to mess around with the Bible.

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Just go to Genesis chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

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If you can get past verse 1, the whole thing is downhill. Notice how God introduces himself. He

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doesn't say, hi, I'd love for you to consider thinking about me being God. No, he just walks up

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mic drop. Boom. In the beginning, I created the heavens and the earth. And he's just saying,

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deal with it. Psalm 19 verse 1. Psalm 19 verse 1 says, the heavens declare the glory of God

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and the firmament the story heavens show his handiwork. When you look at the sky at night,

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God's fingerprints are everywhere. So I don't believe that. Okay. Then I have another Psalm for you.

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Psalm 14 verse 1. The moron has said in his heart, there is no God. How's that? Let's give God a hand.

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I mean, that is just amazing. The heavens declare the glory of God. The natural response is, wow.

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But then there's the moron saying, I'm not going to look up and I'm not going to believe in God. God

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does not exist. So we're going to be distributing cone shaped hats on the way out for all of the morons

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who say there is no God. No, listen, the reason why in your world there is no God is because there's

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no room for another God in your world. You're the one. Now, I hope you get as much fun out of this

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next part as I did studying for this. Jesus taught us a profound insight to what we're speaking about.

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And you know it very well in Mark's Gospel chapter 12 verse 13.

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There the Bible tells us then they sent to Jesus some of the Pharisees and the Herodians

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to catch him, to trick or trip up Jesus in his words. And when they had come, they said to him,

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teacher, we know that you are true, liars, and care about no one. For you do not regard the person of

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men but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Shall we pay?

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Or shall we not pay? But Jesus, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, why do you test me?

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I wonder if they thought at that moment, oh, we got him. But he wasn't done talking.

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He said, bring me a denarius that I may see it. And so they brought it and he said to them, whose

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image and inscription is this. And they said to him, Caesars. And Jesus answered and said to them,

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render to Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are gods and they marveled

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at him. They were blown away like, what do we do with this one? Listen, this is very, very

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cool. Number one, why did Jesus pivot to this incredible answer? Give me a coin. He knew what

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was going to happen. They handed him a coin. Jesus knew everybody knew that on one side of the coin

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was Caesar's face. Caesar had coins minted with his face on it. All the Caesars did. So Jesus

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asked them a question, whose image is on this? He already knew the answer. They did too. Caesar,

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that belongs to Caesar. What's interesting about this is, last time I checked, coins have two sides.

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And I find it fantastic to discover that Caesar, this Caesar, guess what his God was.

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It's going to make the light bulb come on in a moment. His God was the God of wealth,

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prosperity and riches. And so Caesar had that minted, but I thank God, listen to this. God says,

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I have inscribed you upon the palms of my hands. Jesus said to the church of Philadelphia,

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he overcomes, I will make him a pillar. That's important. It should circle the word pillar,

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a pillar in the temple of my God. This is interesting, huh? Why do you say this? He shall go out

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no more. There's a reason why Jesus said that. I will write on him the name of my God,

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and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God.

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I will write on him my new name. And if you turn us the coin around, when we dig up your life,

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when we turn you around and look at the other side of you,

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do we find, not Maman, but do we find Yahweh? Do we find the God of the Bible?

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And if you spin the coin fast enough, if you notice, if you spin a coin fast enough,

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with its speed, the image changes its identification from one to the other, but it's the same coin.

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I'm Jack. My life is displayed by Christ being the one that I am

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ascribing to. And when you flip that coin around, he's my God. He's Yahweh, the Lord Almighty.

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He's the Lord who saves.

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This Jack Hibbs podcast, as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities,

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are listener supported. Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift?

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Go to jackhibbs.com to learn more and stay connected.