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 --> 00:00:09.260 truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. 3 00:00:09.260 --> 00:00:13.960 He's saying, fall in love with me and I will impart things to your thinking and 4 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:19.400 to your heart, to your desires that please me and please you. 5 00:00:19.400 --> 00:00:24.800 Well, I'm going to be a Christian and I'm going to follow Jesus and it's going to 6 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:27.400 be a real bummer, but you know, I'm very my cross. 7 00:00:27.400 --> 00:00:33.440 It's really a drag to be a Christian, but I am one and here we go and come and 8 00:00:33.440 --> 00:00:37.120 follow me. And no thanks. 9 00:00:37.120 --> 00:00:40.840 No, it's okay. Listen, that's not what he gave us. 10 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:47.960 If you delight yourself in God, he will put desires in you that you want that are from him. 11 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:57.360 You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. 12 00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:03.280 Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, 13 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:08.320 then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us, that's like saying 14 00:01:08.320 --> 00:01:13.120 amen or yes, then that rating will encourage others to listen. 15 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:19.160 Now open your hearts to what God's word has to say to you. Here is jackhibbs. 16 00:01:19.160 --> 00:01:23.080 We're diving in now to this working love for our first argument. In verse 14, we learn 17 00:01:23.080 --> 00:01:28.440 that it's having a clean conscience. Your conscience is one of the most precious things 18 00:01:28.440 --> 00:01:34.680 that you possess. It's not your money. It's not your youth. It's not your strength. 19 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:39.660 Your conscience. Listen, if your conscience is plagued, you could go insane. Did you 20 00:01:39.660 --> 00:01:44.940 know that everybody? I'm not a doctor. I'm not a psychologist. I'm an observer. 21 00:01:44.940 --> 00:01:51.220 And the facts are what they are. People with consciences that are weary, down, burdened, 22 00:01:51.220 --> 00:01:57.460 and grieved by a life that they've lived in a questionable way or whatever, and their 23 00:01:57.460 --> 00:02:04.980 conscience is clouded at least to all kinds of other types of phobias and issues of life. 24 00:02:04.980 --> 00:02:11.300 And yet it's only Christianity. It's Christ that offers a clear conscience. And I want 25 00:02:11.300 --> 00:02:15.860 you to think about that for a moment. That's why doing all of the religious things that 26 00:02:15.860 --> 00:02:22.540 religion demands of you doesn't fix a thing on the inside of you. It doesn't fix you. 27 00:02:22.540 --> 00:02:29.980 On the Christ can fix you on the inside. And he clears your conscience of all the things 28 00:02:29.980 --> 00:02:34.680 of the past. Isn't that good news that you can be washed of all the memories? Maybe 29 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:41.220 people don't know. Now look, everybody knows something about each of us to some degree. 30 00:02:41.220 --> 00:02:45.000 You might say, not me. I pretty much hid in my life down. No, no, somebody knows something. 31 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:51.360 Your mom knows. Listen, mom knows things because everyone knows that once a woman becomes 32 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:58.600 a mother, she grows eyes in the back of her head. How did our moms know what we were doing? 33 00:02:58.600 --> 00:03:02.240 Did you ever make a face that your mom when she was walking away, when she made, she 34 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:07.560 had upset you, like go to your room, she turned around and walked away and you went. And 35 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:15.800 she said, I see that face. Listen, if moms can see stuff like that, God can see it. But 36 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:21.560 when we come to him with repentance and we say, Lord, I'm sorry for the life that I've 37 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:27.680 lived for the things that I've done. God's message to us is that he came to relieve us 38 00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:37.240 of all the guilt and the shame and the penalty of death and hell. That's all the benefits 39 00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:41.360 of coming to Christ and so much more. And one of those glorious things is a conscience 40 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:47.720 being cleared. And having to clean conscience, you cannot buy it. You cannot earn it. You 41 00:03:47.720 --> 00:03:52.200 receive it from the Lord. In verse 14 tells us beautifully, look at this verse. Paul says, 42 00:03:52.200 --> 00:03:59.760 and I love it. He says, I know. And I'm convinced that strong statement, right? By the Lord 43 00:03:59.760 --> 00:04:05.080 Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself. So what does that mean? That means Paul must 44 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:10.040 have eaten pork from time to time. That's what it must mean. This is Paul the Jew. This 45 00:04:10.040 --> 00:04:17.160 is the Jew, the top shelf Jew. Now born again. He says right here, I know and I'm convinced. 46 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:22.760 Paul, what is it? That nothing is unclean of itself. We're talking not about sin. That is 47 00:04:22.760 --> 00:04:30.440 unclean. We're talking about things like eating, drinking, foods, conduct in that way. Paul says, 48 00:04:30.440 --> 00:04:40.280 I'm convinced. It's not bad to have a pork sandwich from time to time. Caluapork. He said, 49 00:04:40.280 --> 00:04:45.400 Jack, I think that's very offensive. Why do you think it's offensive? Look what he says. He says 50 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:50.040 that nothing is unclean of itself, but to him who considers anything to be unclean to him at 51 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:57.240 his unclean. If you listen, Paul is saying, look, God made it all. I'll eat it. If I'm hungry, 52 00:04:57.240 --> 00:05:01.800 I'll eat it. See Paul, but you're a Jew. Yes, I am a Jew and I'm a real Jew now. 53 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:06.120 I'm that Jesus as Messiah. That makes me super Jew. 54 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:18.120 I know who he is and God has made everything. Look, this is amazing. You might say, 55 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:25.480 that's pretty much like me. Really it is. I am not matured to that level because I have actually seen 56 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:32.440 some of you. We've gone out to dinner and you, right in front of me, ordered calamari. 57 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:43.080 You know what that is? Listen, they bring something to the plate. I'm to the table on a plate 58 00:05:43.080 --> 00:05:50.440 and it has suction cups on it and people eat and they go, oh, it's so good. You ought to try it 59 00:05:50.440 --> 00:05:57.160 and you want it. And they're chewing this thing like it's rubber. 60 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:05.960 Are you saying, Jack, are you offended by that? I'm just sick and buy it. It may not be offended. 61 00:06:05.960 --> 00:06:10.920 If you want to eat it, you know, if you got clearance between you and God to eat that thing, 62 00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:17.480 that's your business. I'm not judging your brother. I'm just saying this. Why? God, why? God put 63 00:06:17.640 --> 00:06:23.800 it at the bottom of the ocean so you wouldn't get to it. You swim down to get it and you bring it 64 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:30.280 up and it looks like it's from outer space and somebody says, let's eat it. That's wrong. 65 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:38.360 But I'm a babe in Christ. You'll have to handle with my weakness where why don't you just eat 66 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:46.840 stuff that God put that walks around on earth. But of course, I'm kidding with you sort of. 67 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:54.680 Paul says, it's not unclean. God gave it. You can eat that. You can have that. But the point is 68 00:06:54.680 --> 00:07:01.960 your conscience. Are you cleared in your conscience in this area? And if he's just talking about food 69 00:07:01.960 --> 00:07:06.840 things, what about other things that we're not going to bring up in this room right now, 70 00:07:06.840 --> 00:07:12.520 that somebody would require you to violate your conscience. Question, are they a Christian? 71 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:19.640 That's requesting you to violate your conscience. It ought not to happen. Christians do not 72 00:07:19.640 --> 00:07:26.680 cause other Christians to violate their conscience for this very truth. And the second thing is, as I 73 00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:33.800 mentioned last week, even in the world around us, the world itself can say, you must do this thing. 74 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:40.520 And according to the Bible, if it's against your conscience, you're not to do it. Think of that. 75 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:46.840 Your conscience is so precious. And I want to read to you something by the great Albert Barnes. 76 00:07:46.840 --> 00:07:51.320 I love this guy. I read a lot of Albert Barnes. And by the way, you know what? He's wonderful to 77 00:07:51.320 --> 00:07:57.640 read. He was an American pastor, by the way, who was absolutely committed to abolishing slavery. 78 00:07:57.640 --> 00:08:02.040 Not great. I love that. And you, it's great also about reading old guys that are dead. 79 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:09.640 They can't change their mind. So they're safe to read. He says, a clear conscience is often 80 00:08:09.640 --> 00:08:15.240 understood as the inner sense of right and wrong. Aligning one's behavior and intentions with 81 00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:21.000 moral and divine standards. There is a consistent thread throughout scripture that shows conscience 82 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:27.800 is a God-given faculty. This is very smart. This is very, very insightful. This observable 83 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:32.920 reality of man's struggle with what is right and wrong is one of the most powerful evidences 84 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:38.280 of man having been created by the ultimate morality, which has got himself. 85 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:43.560 Can you say him into that? That's an awesome statement. You can use that today. 86 00:08:44.280 --> 00:08:50.120 And he said it so long ago. Why? Because it's eternal truth. And every one of us has a conscience. 87 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:54.840 And God wants your conscience to be cleared. I want to remind you, the Bible wants you free 88 00:08:55.400 --> 00:09:04.120 from a dark conscience. Is the God of the Bible good or what? He wants you to be set free from all 89 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:10.520 of that. The Bible tells us in Romans 12, verse 4, for as we have many members, look in this room 90 00:09:10.520 --> 00:09:16.760 right now. Every single one of you is a member of one body, this gathering together. Let's just 91 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:25.320 call second service, church. Singular church made up of all of you, these people right here. 92 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:30.840 And this is, but all the members do not have the same function. Verse 5, so we, being many, 93 00:09:31.640 --> 00:09:37.480 are one body in Christ and that beautiful and individually members of one another. What a 94 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:42.040 tremendous thing. Watch me. Watch my body. Look, I'm moving. Look, I'm walking sideways. 95 00:09:42.440 --> 00:09:48.440 Watch my hands. I'm going to move over here now. You want to know how that just happened? 96 00:09:49.560 --> 00:09:53.320 Think of it. A lot of stuff went on just now for me to do this. 97 00:09:54.920 --> 00:10:01.400 My brain was moving and thinking stuff. My brain was sending signals to my nervous system, 98 00:10:01.880 --> 00:10:07.240 my neurological system, speaking to the muscles and the sinew of my body, the bones, 99 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:14.760 all of this moving to apparatus from one side to the other side, this bio machine that God has given 100 00:10:14.760 --> 00:10:22.280 us. And it all happens literally at the origin of something that is invisible, my soul, my spirit, 101 00:10:22.280 --> 00:10:29.880 my conscience. Think about that. What you think and what you do and how you live is not pre-programmed. 102 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:38.840 It's the decision that you make. It's the choices that you make. And our bodies will move based upon 103 00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:46.360 how it's being led. And how about this? The body of Christ in this room should be led by the 104 00:10:46.360 --> 00:10:53.560 mind of Christ right now so that you and I live out as members, individual members of one body. 105 00:10:54.280 --> 00:11:02.280 So I've got elbow, I have fingers. We're like that. We are all different parts. Can I say this 106 00:11:02.280 --> 00:11:11.640 without having you freak out? If we are to be members of one body and that we are to be the church, 107 00:11:12.920 --> 00:11:18.520 all of a sudden it doesn't matter if you belong to a church of 10 people or a church of 10,000 people, 108 00:11:18.520 --> 00:11:23.880 the truth is still the same and it is this. If you're a member of the body of Christ, 109 00:11:23.880 --> 00:11:30.200 not a member of this church, forget that. That's irrelevant. If you're a member of the body of Christ, 110 00:11:30.200 --> 00:11:34.600 it means that you're a child of God and if you're a child of God, it means that you have a function. 111 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:40.360 My question to you, don't answer. My question to you is if you're saying yes, I am a child of God, 112 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:45.240 then my next question to you is the proof of that will be your function. 113 00:11:47.560 --> 00:11:51.560 Who are you and what are you in the body of Christ? Does it make sense? Look, give an elbow, 114 00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:58.040 you know what it does, give knees, you have ankles, you have eyes, they all have a function. 115 00:11:58.920 --> 00:12:04.440 So the Lord would say to us, challenge us individually, what's your function? So how do I know? 116 00:12:05.240 --> 00:12:12.120 Here's a test. If you can not go to church for a month and nobody misses you, 117 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:22.520 you don't have a function. You say, well, that kind of stings. I know it stings. It's the point. 118 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:31.160 I'll give you an example. Don't you love these parking lot servants that are out there? These ministers 119 00:12:31.160 --> 00:12:37.720 of parking. Yeah, you know, dangerous it is to be those guys out there, those guys and girls. 120 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:41.880 And you should hear the things they hear because not everybody who comes here is a Christian. 121 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:50.040 If you know what I mean. But I have over the years come to trust these guys out there. 122 00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:55.640 So for example, for me to go home, I've got to go out this west exit 123 00:12:56.600 --> 00:13:04.840 over by LA Fitness. And that's a busy street. And I don't even look at the traffic anymore. I just 124 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:09.800 look at the guy and the guy's going like this. And I mean, he's like, like the New York 125 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:18.440 and I'm just looking at him because if you don't, if you don't obey him because there's two lanes 126 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:24.040 and he'll look at you and he'll put down his finger like this, meaning you in this lane and 127 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:28.840 it's translation. Stay in this lane. If you go on the other lane, it's not going to be good for you. 128 00:13:29.800 --> 00:13:36.440 So he's going like this and he goes like this and I go like that. And and I don't even look, 129 00:13:36.440 --> 00:13:39.160 I trust him. I don't even look to see. I'm just watching him. 130 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:47.480 And he points and I go thinking of the power that he has or that she has. 131 00:13:48.280 --> 00:13:54.360 And they're guiding and they're they're serving. And then listen, you might say, well, I don't 132 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:58.360 know what I function is because all I do is pray for the church. That's all I can do is pray 133 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:03.640 you to the front of the line. If you are praying for this church and for this work and what God 134 00:14:03.640 --> 00:14:08.440 is doing, you go to the front of the line because we can't breathe without you praying. We cannot 135 00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:14.600 breathe. We can't function without you serving. But you must ask yourself, whatever church you 136 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:19.480 attend, maybe you're visiting, wherever you're going to go back home to, you got to ask yourself, 137 00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:27.000 what is my function in the church that I go to? Do they need me? Because guess what? We need 138 00:14:27.640 --> 00:14:34.440 each other. And that's not a theory. Where's your kids right now? People, where's your kids? 139 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:40.520 Are they in children's ministry? You know why they're over there? It's not because you're tired of 140 00:14:40.520 --> 00:14:48.360 them. That's not the reason. It's possible. But that's not the reason. The reason that they're 141 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:54.280 over there is because they're with people. Because you know, if our people decided to leave, 142 00:14:54.280 --> 00:15:01.560 your kid would find you. When they got hungry enough, they would find you. But your children 143 00:15:01.560 --> 00:15:09.160 are being served by people who have opened themselves up to serving. And that's the whole body of 144 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:15.320 Christ Jesus, is that we minister and love one another. And the more that we do that in the name of 145 00:15:15.320 --> 00:15:21.880 Jesus for the glory of Jesus, listen, we decrease. And I like to think of it this way, our problems 146 00:15:21.880 --> 00:15:27.320 and our centrality decreases and we become happier people while you, on the other hand, we 147 00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:33.080 increase you because you are the object of our love for Jesus. How are we going to wash Jesus 148 00:15:33.560 --> 00:15:41.720 feet today by loving on you? It's that simple. But we need to make sure that that happens and the 149 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:46.600 beautiful thing about that is it brings about the second point and that is having the right priority. 150 00:15:47.400 --> 00:15:52.680 The right priority in church life is in verse 15, for if your brother is grieved because of your 151 00:15:52.680 --> 00:15:59.880 food, that is you insist that it has to be your way, you are no longer walking in love. Do not 152 00:15:59.880 --> 00:16:08.040 destroy with your food the one whom Christ died for this person Christ died. And so this is a 153 00:16:08.040 --> 00:16:16.200 whole thing about us growing up into the area of being one of priority that our brother and sister 154 00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:22.600 matters more in our lives than we matter in our lives. You see, Jack, how can you say that because 155 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:27.080 we are programmed to love ourselves? It is true, we are programmed to love ourselves. 156 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:33.240 The Bible says this, the Paul writes to the church at Ephesus and he says, 157 00:16:33.240 --> 00:16:39.720 husband, love your wife. Treat your wife good. If you love yourself, love your wife. 158 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:44.920 Isn't that a, that's a true, stay and think about that. If you really think, you know, if you want 159 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:52.280 to take care of yourself, love your wife. The women, you should have said amen right then, 160 00:16:52.280 --> 00:16:59.640 it was your moment. Husbands, be really good to your wives and it'll be good for you. 161 00:17:00.760 --> 00:17:11.000 Yes, oh, priority, others first. And that's one of the great indicators, are we really Christians? 162 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:19.640 Do we love others? Even a stranger. How is that possible? Listen, before you meet Jesus, 163 00:17:19.640 --> 00:17:23.560 when you hear him say, love strangers, love your enemies, it's like, cuckoo, 164 00:17:24.520 --> 00:17:29.880 let's be honest, that's crazy talk until you become a Christian. And then somehow God gives you 165 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:36.120 compassion for that person who has ruined your life, that person who is just disgusting to you. 166 00:17:36.840 --> 00:17:42.760 Every Monday, you have to show up and work with them all week long and they're driving you crazy. 167 00:17:42.760 --> 00:17:48.440 And then you become a Christian on Sunday and then you go back to that person on Monday and you 168 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:54.200 have this supernatural thing in your heart going on where, why do I care about that guy now? 169 00:17:54.200 --> 00:18:00.120 You used to drive me nuts and now I care about him. Folks, I'm telling you, that's one of the 170 00:18:00.120 --> 00:18:05.800 evidences of God's presence in your life. It's amazing. And I love when God does that kind of 171 00:18:05.800 --> 00:18:11.560 stuff because we're the ones most shocked. He's remarkable, but it's all about priority and the 172 00:18:11.560 --> 00:18:17.720 right priority at that. I made this comment in my notes. If you do have the notes downloaded on 173 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:23.400 your device on page three, it says we live in the most perfected age of carnality. We have modernized 174 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:28.200 sin and rebellion against God. Have we not in this world that we're in right now? We have perfected 175 00:18:28.840 --> 00:18:34.120 carnality. We've perfected sin. And sometimes we say things like this, well, you know what? 176 00:18:34.120 --> 00:18:39.480 I'm going to do this if my brothers offended or not. I've got liberty in Christ to do it. Friend, 177 00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:46.360 you're being carnal. You're not to exploit your liberties in Christ at the expense of your brother's 178 00:18:46.360 --> 00:18:54.680 conscience. The priority is your brother. The priority is your sister. And we must remember that 179 00:18:54.680 --> 00:18:59.880 this is a very powerful thing that you and I as believers and I'm going to warn you at front. 180 00:18:59.880 --> 00:19:05.640 This is where it gets a little strong here right now because if we fix our eyes and affection upon 181 00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:12.280 Jesus, we'll quickly see him elevated to his right place of honor in the church. Convinced of 182 00:19:12.280 --> 00:19:19.160 that, the book of Colossians tells us that he is the head of the church. You got to wonder how 183 00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:25.400 many headless churches are there in America today? For Christ does not glorify. He's not obeyed. He's 184 00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:34.280 not honored. God wants us to dwell together in unity. He says how precious, how beautiful it is for 185 00:19:34.280 --> 00:19:43.400 the brethren to dwell together in unity. You guys are smart. The qualifier is brethren. God does not 186 00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:54.520 and is not committed to unity. It's a byproduct of truth. To be unified around the truth is how God 187 00:19:55.560 --> 00:20:02.280 executes the ministry. He doesn't have people come together in unity for unity sake. That's 188 00:20:02.280 --> 00:20:08.680 insanity. That's impossible. But when we are gathered together in the same truth, then there's unity. 189 00:20:13.480 --> 00:20:19.400 This Jack Hibbs podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are listener supported. 190 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:27.160 Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? Go to jackhibbs.com to learn more and stay 191 00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:28.680 connected.