Faithfulness and Your Future

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Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture.

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Hey, everybody's kind of freaking out. The government's gone nuts, the economy's gone crazy. There's UFO testimony. Should I get married? The answer is stay tuned.

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You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com Today. If this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five-star ratings. To us that's like saying amen or yes. Then that rating will encourage others to listen. Now open your hearts to what God's Word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs.

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Hey everybody, welcome to this podcast. We're going to be talking to those of you and there are many of you, and I get it. I used to be one of you, both Lisa and I and that is the young family today, or the young believer today, the single believer today, the Christian who looks around and clearly discerns that the universe has lost its mind. There has been a mass infusion of stupid that has gone into the veins of people just left and right seemingly losing their minds, and of course, the epicenter of that seems to be San Francisco, as an example, a place of lunacy, and when you look at what's happening, that kind of insanity is spreading, and so you file that over here and obviously you make the conclusion we're not going to ever live in San Francisco, nor are we going to go on vacation there, and that would be exercising wisdom. And then you jump over to the topic of gosh. I just you know, should I go to college and get a degree so that I won't be employed? Because businesses now are saying we don't want a college degree individual, we want somebody who's teachable, we want somebody who we can train here at Ford or IBM or you know, you name the place we need to unteach them, to teach them what they need to know to do the job, and so the education system is in mass confusion. Do I go to college or not? Well, that leads to the question as a young individual, should I care about somebody in a romantic way or not? Gosh, I guess, if it's the end of the world and all these things are going on, let's just give up. And I want to encourage you by saying don't do that. I'm going to tell you the reason why Every generation of believers, if they're paying attention, should cope with these challenges. My dear friends, listen, especially young people. Don't think for a moment that this is unique with what you're thinking.

I remember when I was young and the Soviet Union was going to nuke Florida and the southern states from Cuba. That was real. We had duck and cover drills in school where they told us we know what to do If the sirens go off. Go under your desk and cover your head because the Soviet Union, the Russians, are coming. I'm not joking. Some of you are saying I remember that. And then there are those times when we had, in California, there was a prophecy given by some seer, some prophet, that announced, on such and such a day of such and such a year, california, from the San Andreas Fault over, is going to fall into the ocean, just going to cave over. The new shoreline is going to be the California desert, because all of it LA, everything Orange County, san Diego all of it's going to fall into the Pacific Ocean. People were reporting on this. People expected it, and well, if that's going to happen, then why get married? There's always going to be something.

Notice that in history, israel was almost perpetually being taken captive by enemy forces because they perpetually disobeyed God and threw themselves into captivity. But, thank God, they kept having kids. They kept getting married. They kept having kids. You see, jack, yeah, but that was way back then. This is now. This is the end of the age. I get it. Watch this.

I want to lovingly challenge your logic. Should you get married, absolutely To the right person? Should you have babies? Have a ton. Should you book your next vacation somewhere? Book it. Should I go outside? Yes, should I eat my next meal? Of course, do you see the drift? I'm being a little sarcastic, but watch this.

As a believer, we're called upon to be faithful, so go be faithful. Is there a young man and you think, oh, he's handsome, he's nice, he loves the Lord, so, listen, why not the two of you get married? Why not have children? Well, the cost of homes are too expensive. Who cares? It's always been too expensive. Lisa and I, when we bought our home in 1986, we couldn't afford it. We were in debt up to our neck. We literally not kidding scouts, honor On the Bible. Here we literally ate hot dogs. Sometimes they were Hebrew nationals, but those were too expensive, so we had to downgrade to Haffi. And then, downgrading from Haffi, it got so tough we had to eat Oscar Mayer hot dogs, which is pretty much the bottom of the hot dog chain, with various things like hamburger, helper, lettuce beans. We survived because we thought it would be smart to get a house.

Now a lot of you guys are saying, oh, I'm not going to get a house. I understand, but listen, you need to plan and you need to be faithful. And if you entertain roadblocks, one after another, boy, I really, I think I really love her, or I think I really love him by the way, I'm talking about those of opposite sex he really loves her, she really loves him. Christians, I'm talking to Christians. Then you should ask her out. Hey guys, listen, ask her out. Man, she's so cute. I see her. It's a conservance, I'm attracted to her. Hello, boom, flash. That's how God made you. And it's quite amazing. We can't. We don't have the time to go down this road right now.

But the reason why you can be sitting with your friend and say, hey, isn't she cute over there, you're going to go talk to her and your friend says her, you guys, it's a whole, it's a whole scheme, legend of mathematical geometry. You're actually attracted to somebody based on an internal desire that is placed there, I believe, by God. And it's, and it's really connected to geometry. When you see someone their facial structure, bone structure, eyes placement, forehead, chin, all of that stuff that's why somebody can say I don't think she's cute at all and your friend will say she's a knockout. Hey, that's how the world goes around. So go and ask her out, ask her her number, just tell her listen.

Say, hey, you know what? Would you like to have coffee? Because I've noticed you come to Second Service at church and why you serve in the ushers' ministry. Would you be willing to go have a cup of coffee after service today? That's how it starts Well, best. If I do that, then we could get serious. Uh-huh, do it. But that could lead to engagement. Uh-huh, do it. That could lead to premarital counseling at the church. That's right, bring it. That could lead to us getting married. Awesome.

But isn't Jesus coming back any day? Now? We don't know the time, we don't know the day or the hour. But listen, it doesn't mean you stop living. The scripture says that we are to occupy till he comes. I'm looking at the Bible on the monitor here. In Luke 19.31, it says occupy till I come. That means that we are to live our lives faithfully for Jesus and we don't sit it out.

Listen for those of you guys hanging around in your mom's basement, so to speak, in your proverbial underwear. Wash them, put them back on, put a pair of pants on top of those things, get a shirt on, wash your armpits, comb your hair, brush your teeth, get out and go. Make yourself available to meet someone to potentially get married. Guys, take the lead. I'm telling you from experience.

You know what, one of the biggest things that Lisa and I are asked all the time by Christian young women Pastor Jack, miss Lisa, where are the Christian men Quoting? I'm quoting somebody right now. Every guy in the world hits on us. We're sick of it. Every guy hits on us. Hey, babe, you want to go out. Hey, you're hot. Hey, you want to get together. And they are disgusted by that because they're non-believers.

And these young women know that being unequally yoked is wrong. You get interested in a non-believer and I don't know what to tell you. But get ready for problems. You better put a life jacket on mouthpiece in bubble wrap yourself, because it's nuts enough out there in the world, but to get involved with a non-believer, you're asking for crazy. So these women are saying Pastor Jack, miss Lisa, where in the world are the Christian guys? I see them at church. Why don't they ask us out? And so a couple of times, lisa and I got guys together and we said start asking people out, will you? It's ridiculous, but anyway, that's Luke 1913, which means occupy till I come.

Just live your life, stop being fearful. Guys and gals, boys and girls, start being faithful. So watch this. This is cool. We're going to be judged as believers on our faithfulness, and faithfulness means that you're involved in something to be faithful to, and there's nothing more God-like than a relationship with somebody. So that's something that we want to make sure that you understand. Don't sit it out. Well, it's the end of the world. I guess we're going to break up because Jesus is coming back. Don't do that. Go for it and let God interrupt your life with his return. Could be next week, could be next year, could be 10 years from now, could be 100 years from now, nobody knows. But you're supposed to be ready to meet him every day.

Which leads to those who are currently married to a non-believer and you're like saying man, did I make a mistake? I know we hear this all the time, but you're married to them. You say well, where's that in the Bible? Well, first of all, before God, you said I do. God was listening. I don't care if you got married in front of the pope or a plumber, it doesn't matter. God was listening. And God says keep the vows that you've made in your youth. Okay, so you're married and either A you married a non-believer and he's still a non-believer, or she's still a non-believer, or, as time has gone on, you've been what we call defrauded, where somebody told you they were a believer, and now you find yourself in this unbelieving, unequally-yoke situation. What are you supposed to do about it? Well, number one. Peter tells us that we, it says, when the godly wife has her godly conduct before the Lord and she's a witness, she may very well win her unsaved or ungodly husband to Christ by her witness. She could win him to Christ. Now listen, you're going to say ugh. I've been married for 11 years. The bozo still hasn't come to Christ. How long do I put up with this? Listen, are you ready to hear this, please? You may be just on the brink of seeing his conversion, maybe.

Think of it like a gold miner. A gold miner starts digging with a pick and an axe. He's digging, digging, digging. He's finding nothing. He's looking at stuff. He's digging and digging. He finds ore, which is a good indicator, but he's digging and digging and then he starts to see some stuff that looks like gold, but it turns out to be that fool's gold. That's called in California fool's gold. Looks like gold, but it's not gold, but it travels in and around ore, but ore is an indicator that gold could be present, hitting, chipping. I'm done with this and this has happened many times in California history. The guy sells his claim to some other guy. The guy buys the claim, picks up with that guy left off and with three more pickaxe strikes he hits the mother load, he hits the vein and becomes rich, becomes a millionaire. With three hits.

Okay, that could be the same regarding your marriage, or it might take five more years. Here's the point. Are you willing, christian? Are you willing, Christian, to maintain this relationship that God knows you're involved in, to win this one to Christ because that's your mission field? I know down deep inside it sounds very romantic for you to get in an airplane with the rest of your friends at church and fly to Belize and preach the gospel and see people get saved and then come back home to a non-believer. I get it. I understand that that's more of a break and a relief from mundane. But it's 1 Peter, chapter 3, verses 1 through 6, that gives you the strength that you ought to memorize and that you ought to lean on and write out and post and print and stick it on your mirror or whatever, that your godly conduct could very well win your lost spouse to Christ.

But are you willing to accept this bit of counsel from the Word of God? What would have benefit you if you wound up leading the entire world to Christ but wound up losing your own wife or your own husband that's a, by the way, that's a pastor, I would think also an evangelist. Nightmare is if you preach the Word of God but your family doesn't wind up making it to heaven. Wouldn't that be horrific? Can you imagine being some noted evangelist? Can you imagine being Billy Graham, for example, and none of your kids make it to heaven? Yikes, now, billy Graham is not responsible for his kids making it to heaven or not exactly, but you want to make sure your home is reached first before you go outside the doors of your house.

So, husbands, wives, I'm going to ask you to kind of sound like the, the IMF leader, giving Tom Cruise mission impossible. Your next assignment, should you accept it, and that is can you target your husband or your wife as your mission field and be faithful to that calling? Because in the end, god's going to judge you on your faithfulness to reach the one that was closest to you in proximity. Is it your kids? Is it your husband? Did you show them a witness of Christ? Did you? Did you lovingly show them a changed life? Did you honestly share with them Jesus?

If you were to die today, can you honestly say that you have in fact given your family the gospel, or have you asked them, do you believe in God? And they said, no, that's not giving them the gospel. You need to pray, ask the Lord and then watch for the opportunities for you to respond to giving them the gospel. I think it's St Augustine who said basically this share Christ with everybody and, if needful, if possible, use words if you have to. That's a great line. In other words, show them by the way that you live and then, when you open your mouth, your conduct will back up the gospel. So, wives, husbands, if you're married to a non-believer, that is exactly the plan of God for you. You heard me right. That's your mission field, that is your calling.

Don't think that your unbelieving husband is your ball and chain. That's keeping you from ministry. Wake up, he is your ministry. Get a couple of good, faithful friends that know how to keep their mouth quiet and draft them into intercessory prayer for your husband or for your wife. Bombard them in prayer and then ask God open up opportunities, lord, for me to speak. And I read it this morning and when I speak, jesus, you're the one that told me that in that very hour, I don't need to think about it, the Holy Spirit will fill my mouth to give me what it is I'm supposed to say Don't give up on your wife or your husband. That's not a Christian. Don't give up on them. Okay.

We're not talking about divorce. That's another topic. We're not talking about separation. That's another topic. We're not talking about any other thing except you living right now together with your unbelieving spouse. It is God's will that you win them to Christ. Be patient. It could take a long time, but that's your mission field and, in the end, christian you're going to be. I'm going to be judged on my faithfulness to… that ministry that was placed directly in front of my nose.

And that person directly in front of your nose is the person you wake up with in the morning, you go to bed with at night. Right, you might have kids with your husband and wife, and one of them is outside the kingdom. The Lord is desirous. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to eternal life, right? So listen, I hope that this helps. I hope that this is a blessing to you. So recap super quick young people Pursue someone.

Get back. We ought to have a podcast on how to pursue someone, because a lot of young people don't even know what I'm talking about. Learn how to pursue someone. Go after them and ask them out. Start to date them with the intent of possibly asking them to marry. Okay, don't tell them, by the way, you love them. Don't tell them you love them until you, until it goes like this Watch me Ready, watch everybody. Don't do it except this way Hi, Susie, good to hear from you or good to see you, hey, I love you. Will you marry me? Don't say I love you until you can say will you marry me? If somebody says, tell me you love me, I can't do that right now, because the day that I say that is the day I'm going to ask you to marry me. If you want me to ask you, or if you want me to tell you, are you going to say yes? This is very important stuff. We throw it around like it's nothing.

Young people get committed, get faithful, get babies, get homes, get a life, build it. People who are married to non-believers stay faithful, win them to Christ. Listen always. Hit the subscribe button to stay up to date. We've got a lot of information coming your way. If you're blessed by the podcast, we'd love for you to review that. Let us know, share it with others and, like always, it's time to live out what you believe in. It's time for real life. God bless you, guys. See you next time.