WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.840 Real life presents the Jack Hibb's podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim 2 00:00:05.840 --> 00:00:09.320 truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. 3 00:00:09.320 --> 00:00:13.400 As a Christian, God is pursuing you and I as a believer every day, every day God 4 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:17.120 guides for us. He meets us when we wake up, He's pursuing us. But if you're not a 5 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:22.560 Christian, He is pursuing you to get you out of hell's grip and into His 6 00:00:22.560 --> 00:00:27.720 safely into His arms. He will pursue you until the day of your death, but just 7 00:00:27.720 --> 00:00:29.720 make sure you don't die without Jesus. 8 00:00:32.720 --> 00:00:38.720 You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibs.com slash podcast. 9 00:00:38.720 --> 00:00:43.720 Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled 10 00:00:43.720 --> 00:00:47.720 life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. 11 00:00:47.720 --> 00:00:53.720 To us, that's like saying amen or yes, then that rating will encourage others to 12 00:00:53.720 --> 00:01:00.720 listen. Now, open your hearts to what God's word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibb's. 13 00:01:00.720 --> 00:01:07.360 We are His children. The Bible says that. Ares and join Ares with Christ. Galatians 14 00:01:07.360 --> 00:01:13.280 chapter four verse five says, and to redeem those who were under the law, remember 15 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:17.920 the law cannot save you. The law just said you were bad, that you might receive 16 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:25.920 the adoption of sons. In Roman law, you could bear naturally five kids, and you 17 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:32.200 could be Elon Musk. Think about it. You could be worth billions and billions of 18 00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:36.800 dollars, and you got five kids. But you look at them and you realize, even though 19 00:01:36.800 --> 00:01:43.400 these are my kids, I don't think they should receive what I have for them because 20 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:47.280 they can't handle it. Whatever reason. They don't care. They can't handle it. They 21 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:55.480 ain't got it. Whatever the deal is. But Elon looks over here and he sees Billy. And 22 00:01:55.480 --> 00:02:01.680 Elon in the first century says, Billy, come with me. And he walks Billy down to the 23 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:09.600 forum in Rome with the seven witnesses of the seven testimonies. They're there, seven 24 00:02:09.600 --> 00:02:16.200 eyewitnesses. And Elon Musk would stand there and say, this is my only son publicly. And 25 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:21.600 in that moment is bestowed upon this kid, all the billions of dollars of Elon Musk while 26 00:02:21.600 --> 00:02:31.800 his natural born family has nothing. They get nothing. Why? Because God positioned biblical 27 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:38.080 adoption to be lived out in the Roman Empire as an example. You can, many of us know this 28 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:43.360 is true. You know, we have family in the flesh, do we not? And then we have family in the 29 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:49.200 spirit, which is us. Many of us, in some way, shape or form, our family in the spirit 30 00:02:49.200 --> 00:02:55.920 is closer than our family in the flesh. There's things that I would tell you that I wouldn't, 31 00:02:55.920 --> 00:03:00.520 well, I mean, my brother's a believer, so that's fine. I can tell him he's in the family 32 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:06.120 and the family. But you know what I mean by that, though? There's family members. You 33 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:11.720 wouldn't give them the keys to your car, especially if they're 16 and they live in your own 34 00:03:11.720 --> 00:03:18.200 house. Right? But isn't it amazing how there's people in the family of God and that you 35 00:03:18.200 --> 00:03:25.320 can share your guts with them and be safe? It's amazing. Well, God takes you and I in into 36 00:03:25.320 --> 00:03:30.960 his family. And it's a beautiful thing. Listen, John, chapter 10, John 10, verse 2, John 37 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:36.280 10, starting at verse 2, listen to this. And by the way, as I read this, I want you to 38 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:43.160 ask yourself if this describes your life. But he, Jesus says, who enters by the door is the 39 00:03:43.160 --> 00:03:49.960 shepherd of the sheep. He's speaking about himself versus those who are false. To him, the 40 00:03:49.960 --> 00:03:58.280 doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice. And he calls his own sheep by name and leads them 41 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:07.320 out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow him. For 42 00:04:07.320 --> 00:04:13.560 they know his voice, verse 5, this is very beautiful. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, 43 00:04:13.560 --> 00:04:18.920 but will flee from him. For they do not know the voice of strangers. Stop right there. You know 44 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:27.240 it's great about this. You guys, those of us who are Christians, we know his voice. We know 45 00:04:28.200 --> 00:04:32.680 his voice. I've never heard his voice like audibly, but I know his voice through this. It's 46 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:38.760 amazing. But when somebody who is not his voice speaks, you recognize that immediately. 47 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:49.880 Ask yourself, am I the kind of Christian that's for real that when I read the Bible, it just 48 00:04:49.880 --> 00:04:55.240 becomes more and more alive to me. And that is actually understand now, Jesus speaking to me. 49 00:04:55.240 --> 00:05:01.240 And then as I live my life during the day, he's speaking. And somebody might say something. 50 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:07.400 And I just don't know why, but it's wrong. You know that's called discernment. Do you know that's 51 00:05:07.400 --> 00:05:13.880 God speaking to you and protecting you? Do you know his voice? Yet they will by no means follow 52 00:05:13.880 --> 00:05:19.160 a stranger, but will flee from him. For they do not know the voice of strangers. Verse 6, 53 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:24.920 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which he spoke to them. 54 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:30.040 Then Jesus said to them again, most assuredly I said to you, I am the door of the sheep. 55 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:37.080 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved. Does that sound a little vague to you? 56 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:47.560 And we'll go in and out and find pasture. Verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd 57 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:53.000 gives his life for the sheep. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd. And I know my sheep. Here you go. 58 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:59.640 And I am known by my own as the father knows me, even so I know the father. And I laid down my 59 00:05:59.640 --> 00:06:05.400 life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which I believe he's talking to the Gentile world, 60 00:06:05.400 --> 00:06:09.400 because he's speaking to a bunch of Jews at this moment. But look what he says right here. And 61 00:06:09.400 --> 00:06:16.840 other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they will hear my voice, 62 00:06:16.840 --> 00:06:23.560 and there will be one flock and one shepherd. That's Jesus speaking. Those letters are in red 63 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:30.280 in your Bible. What a beautiful thing. I don't worry about getting deceived by some cult movement 64 00:06:30.280 --> 00:06:38.360 or something else. Why? Because his word is in me. The Holy Spirit is like radar. And when 65 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:44.840 something pops up, the word of God, chapter verse, so to speak, files over here and says, that's 66 00:06:44.840 --> 00:06:53.800 bizarre. Right? When somebody says, hey, thanks for tuning in and watching. Hey, God just spoke 67 00:06:53.800 --> 00:06:59.800 to me to tell you, write a check for $100 or send us $100 bill, tear off a little corner of it. 68 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:04.200 You keep that little corner, but make sure you send the $100 bill to us and God will bless your 69 00:07:04.280 --> 00:07:17.320 life. Inside the believer's life. Are you with me? Right? If you have enough faith, send me all your 70 00:07:17.320 --> 00:07:26.280 money. Excuse me, what? Wait, if you have faith, I'll keep my money. And let's see what your faith 71 00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:34.680 can do for you. He tells us he has faith. And then he's got faith. And if you have faith, you'll send 72 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:40.680 him all your money. Let me tell you, you know who's going to listen to that guy? Somebody who's 73 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:46.440 not a sheep. Jesus would never say that. Does it make sense? Really quick. We're going to run 74 00:07:46.440 --> 00:07:53.400 through these. Enjoy this. Number one, desire. God's desire. God's desire. His desire, listen, 75 00:07:53.400 --> 00:08:00.440 is to both know and you to be known by you. God wants to know you and he wants you to know him. 76 00:08:01.080 --> 00:08:06.360 The Bible declares this. That should excite you. His willingness to pursue. To me, this is 77 00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:12.520 remarkable until the end of your life. Number one, as a Christian, God is pursuing you and I as 78 00:08:12.520 --> 00:08:17.400 a believer every day. Every day, God's first. He meets us when we wake up. He's pursuing us. 79 00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:23.880 But if you're not a Christian, he is pursuing you to get you out of hell's grip and into his 80 00:08:23.880 --> 00:08:29.320 safely into his arms. He will pursue you until the day of your death. But just make sure you don't 81 00:08:29.320 --> 00:08:36.840 die without Jesus. Enjoy this fact. His mission to rescue you from out of this world. He's on a 82 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:44.920 mission to rescue you from this world of destruction, world of decay. Enjoy this. His power to seal 83 00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:49.000 you because you belong to him. I love that. In fact, I want to read this, Song of Solomon. 84 00:08:51.160 --> 00:08:55.880 In Israel, I don't know if you know this or not, but in many groups, 85 00:08:57.720 --> 00:09:03.400 Song of Solomon, guys are not supposed to read it to their 30 because it's too erotic. 86 00:09:04.840 --> 00:09:14.600 I haven't ever read it, but anyway, it's pretty intense. But then some people will say, 87 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:22.120 no, it's all typological. He's not really talking about his fiancee and then his wife. It's about 88 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:27.480 God in Israel. Okay, so, all right, whatever. And then some people say, no, no, it's about Jesus 89 00:09:27.480 --> 00:09:35.720 in his church. Okay, if you want to spiritualize it, fine. However you take it, listen to this. 90 00:09:36.680 --> 00:09:44.280 Song of Solomon 8, verse 6, you set me as a seal upon your heart. Now, this every woman in the 91 00:09:44.280 --> 00:09:54.040 church, you go, oh, as a seal upon your arm, the seal upon your arm is not going anywhere. That's 92 00:09:54.040 --> 00:10:00.680 the point. For love is as strong as death. Jealousy, this is a good jealousy. This is where 93 00:10:00.680 --> 00:10:13.320 I love you and you cannot be shared with others. Your mind. I love you that much. As demanding as 94 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:21.640 the grave, its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench 95 00:10:21.640 --> 00:10:30.360 love, neither can flood drown it. That is a spectacular description. And you think about God's love 96 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:36.920 for you. God's love for you cannot be stopped. Jesus said so much, I'll lay down my life for you. 97 00:10:36.920 --> 00:10:43.480 Why? He has got an remarkable and an amazing agreement with the Father and the Holy Spirit to 98 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:50.280 get you to heaven. And God wants you in heaven, but in the meantime, He wants you to be more and 99 00:10:50.280 --> 00:10:57.160 more like Jesus to bring more and more people to heaven. Is it amazing? It's just God's plan. 100 00:10:58.040 --> 00:11:03.000 Why would He use us to do this? Well, He became a human to communicate God's truth to us. 101 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:07.400 Then He turns around and He tells us, as redeemed humans, go tell others who are lost. 102 00:11:08.760 --> 00:11:15.960 Makes sense to me if you put it that way. Remarkable. Next is this church, enjoy it because He has 103 00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:23.240 made you rich. He has made you rich. Indeed, we suffer with Him, if indeed. Now you say, 104 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:27.640 Jack, how in the world does that work? If indeed, we suffer with Him. This is pretty cool. Number 105 00:11:27.640 --> 00:11:33.320 one, you do understand we're not talking about earthly riches. Okay, earthly riches, the Bible says 106 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:41.000 they can sprout wings and fly away. Okay? We're not talking about that. By the way, you know, for those 107 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:45.880 of us who are Christians, we are the richest people in the world. And you know, we're only going to 108 00:11:45.880 --> 00:11:52.680 get richer. I'm not talking about currencies of this world. I'm not talking about stock and options, 109 00:11:52.680 --> 00:11:59.320 and I'm not talking about silver, gold, and commodities. Those are all physical things that are 110 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:05.320 going to be gone in a second. The riches that God offers to the believer, didn't Jesus say the 111 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:11.320 kingdom of God is in you? It's both in us as believers and it's where we're going. 112 00:12:13.880 --> 00:12:19.080 You see, yeah, but what's with the word suffer? Listen, you're going to love this word suffer. 113 00:12:19.400 --> 00:12:30.200 This word suffer translated means this. The day-to-day pressures, difficulties, hardships of life, 114 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:37.320 day-to-day. Day-to-day. Every single one of us have pressures, day-to-day, hardships, day-to-day, 115 00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:46.120 but for the Christian, everything you and I go through matters in eternity. There's an exchange 116 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:52.520 of currencies, so to speak. The Bible says all of you who love God are going to suffer persecution in 117 00:12:52.520 --> 00:12:59.400 this world. Bible says it. So I don't know if I like that. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. Here's the 118 00:12:59.400 --> 00:13:10.680 reason why. If you associate with Jesus, you're going to be in trouble. If, on the other hand, 119 00:13:10.680 --> 00:13:15.800 you think you're a Christian, but listen, when time comes for you to speak up and say that you're 120 00:13:15.800 --> 00:13:21.720 a believer or respond to some challenge about being a believer, you don't. You're ashamed of him. 121 00:13:24.440 --> 00:13:28.920 And isn't it amazing, Jesus said, on the day of judgment, those that are ashamed of me, 122 00:13:28.920 --> 00:13:37.960 I will be ashamed of them. And on the day of judgment, those who are with me or for me, I will be 123 00:13:38.760 --> 00:13:50.440 with them or for them. In all of life, there's difficulties. The believer has Christ with meaning. 124 00:13:50.440 --> 00:14:03.160 The unbeliever has a pill. Maybe cocaine. Maybe it's drugs. Maybe, listen, maybe you can't function 125 00:14:03.160 --> 00:14:09.800 in this world without that drink at the end of the day. Listen, maybe we were like that before 126 00:14:09.800 --> 00:14:14.840 we met Jesus, but after we met Jesus, Jesus eventually says, you know what? And they'll say it to 127 00:14:14.840 --> 00:14:22.280 you. You know what? Before you pour that, can you talk to me? And when he starts talking to you, 128 00:14:22.280 --> 00:14:28.280 my friend, please listen, if you've never experienced this kind of being set free, embrace him. 129 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:33.080 When he says, listen, in fact, he won't even say, he won't even say, put it down, I'm going to 130 00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:38.040 struggle you. He just says, hey, before you do that, can you just talk to me for a moment? 131 00:14:39.160 --> 00:14:44.520 And you feel this sense of God wanting to speak to you. God, what's going on? And he starts 132 00:14:44.520 --> 00:14:48.200 talking to you, either from the Bible or in your thoughts. And it's not your thoughts. You know, 133 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:54.680 it's not you. And it's amazing. And you start getting comfort from him. And peace. And you know 134 00:14:54.760 --> 00:15:01.320 what happens? You wind up walking away from that line or from that cup or from whatever it is. 135 00:15:02.760 --> 00:15:08.360 He winds up removing it. Galatians 5 verse 1 says, it's a liberty that Christ has given you that 136 00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:16.680 sets you free. Absolutely amazing. Rich, rich in Jesus, rich in the things of God. But the word 137 00:15:16.680 --> 00:15:26.840 suffer, I want to get in line. But then I find out I am. The word suffer is this that when we suffer, 138 00:15:28.280 --> 00:15:35.000 it's through suffering that takes the truth of God. Okay. And God comes in with his answer. 139 00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:41.960 It takes us through the problem. Could be marriage, could be business, finance, could be health, 140 00:15:42.760 --> 00:15:49.560 whatever it is. It's not bigger than God. Just include him. And as you've suffered through something, 141 00:15:50.280 --> 00:15:59.400 give God a chance. And here's what is the point is your faithfulness to God in the midst of 142 00:15:59.400 --> 00:16:04.680 suffering. We're not talking about battling cancer, but that's included. I'm not talking about 143 00:16:04.680 --> 00:16:10.040 getting hit by a truck, but that's included day-to-day life stuff. You know the grind? You know the 144 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:15.240 daily grind? As a believer, we go through that every day. And if we go through it with Christ, 145 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:21.720 whatever we go through, translates into eternity and the riches that God has in store for us. 146 00:16:21.720 --> 00:16:26.440 I don't know how that's going to work out. I just know the Bible says it. But what an amazing 147 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:36.600 future we have. So if you're going through something, just know this. God has got you in this thing. 148 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:42.120 And he wants to walk you through it. And there's benefits at the end. 149 00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:50.040 In eternal life, the ultimate is going to be determined. And it's this. Were you faithful? Did 150 00:16:50.040 --> 00:16:54.280 you know that? Were you faithful? That's how we're going to be judged as believers. Listen, 151 00:16:54.280 --> 00:17:01.080 the Lord is not asking you to be like Billy Graham. He's not saying, you know, you should be like 152 00:17:02.040 --> 00:17:10.200 Charles Stanley. You should be like Chuck Smith. He didn't listen. Your life, Christian, your life 153 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:19.640 is to be what he called you to be. Not what someone else is. On the day of judgment, God is not going 154 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:29.080 to say, Mike, come forward, Mike. Okay. Mike, I see what you did as a believer. 155 00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:38.520 But I had you set up to repeat Billy Graham's life. What were you doing? 156 00:17:40.360 --> 00:17:44.760 God's not going to do that. He's going to say, Mike, step on up. Good to see you. Mike, great. 157 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:52.760 You were faithful when opportunities came. You were faithful. You're going to be judged on 158 00:17:52.760 --> 00:18:00.040 faithfulness. God bless you. I'm going to come up, Jack. I can just see the Lord. Jack, Holy Spirit, 159 00:18:00.760 --> 00:18:06.040 good job. I know he would give you a hard time. Here he is. It's amazing. Holy Spirit, great job. 160 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:13.480 He's not going to say to me. Now, Jack, I expect you to live out the Charles Stanley retain. 161 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.880 You failed miserably. I mean, you're in heaven and stuff. Good for you, right? But 162 00:18:21.640 --> 00:18:28.440 you weren't faithful. No, no, no, no, no. Each and every single one of us to receive as an air, 163 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:34.920 the inheritance he has established for us means that you are to drive in your lane. If that's 164 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:41.080 the terminology, be in your wheelhouse. If that's the terminology, do what he's told you to do. 165 00:18:41.080 --> 00:18:48.600 Not what somebody else is doing. He's going to call you and evaluate you on what he's, 166 00:18:48.600 --> 00:18:52.760 because that's part of his great redemptive plan. It's beautiful to live your life. Can you 167 00:18:52.760 --> 00:18:58.920 imagine knowing you're living your life for the purposes of God that he engineered for you? 168 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:00.600 There's nothing greater. 169 00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:09.640 This Jack Hibbs podcast, as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities, 170 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:14.360 are listener supported. Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? 171 00:19:15.080 --> 00:19:20.680 Go to jackhibbs.com to learn more and stay connected.