He's Coming For You

Real Life presents the Jack Kibb's podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. It's a serious day when the gospel's been ejected for social argumentation that we're not going to preach Christ anymore. What we're going to wind up doing is talking about either a black lives matter or social justice or all these things cloaked in the pulpit. The only answer to black lives matter in social justice is the gospel. And when you depart from the gospel, you go down the path of falsehood. You're on the wrong path. It's the wrong path. You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackkibb's.com slash podcast. 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 Kibb's. He is coming for you. He's coming for us. So make sure you're on the right path. That's obvious. Might I submit to you today that it's not as easy as you think it was maybe 30 years ago or 100 years ago? The path way back in those days seemed to be a lot less cluttered than it is today. When we talk about the path that I'm talking about you being a believer on the right path that is acceptable to God. Listen, my dear friends, not you, not me, but it's acceptable to God. That's what God has approved of. That's what God says. Now I know that when you and I punch in a destination on our GPS or on our phones or our cars or whatever it might be, you've noticed that your built-in GPS systems got features on it and some of those features are things like this. It will avoid accidents. It will avoid toll roads. It will avoid whatever. But if you set your GPS for destination the fastest route, that's how I don't know how you're as it's set, you know? You might select the more scenic route, which I wish they had that one by the way, but I guess that's based upon your opinion. But the one about fastest route, that's the one I want, that's the one I hit. But in that, you've noticed that when you select that, it will then tell you you've got three different options and each of them are about two minutes apart. Have you seen that? And you can pick the fastest one. These are the top three that appear on the destination route of what's fastest. And you have these decisions to make. And now today you and I are living in a world of, quote, Christianity that has all these other peripheral things that are available for you to pick. And I got to tell you, that's not a good idea. It may be great on your GPS about getting to the beach in time or Disneyland or wherever you're going to go. But when it comes to getting to heaven, can you imagine you type in heaven, right? Seven, seven, seven, paradise lane, heaven. And it pops up and it says you have three options. No, I got news for you. We got one option, which is no option. You've got one choice. So be very careful because today, and I'm not going to do it, don't respond when I say this. You always do. I could name names of famous Christian leaders today that have now departed from that way, that path and are offering alternative routes based upon your gender, based upon your race, based upon your ethnicity. Are you hearing me? They now have departed, famous names. And it's sickening and it's tragic. And yet when I read it and see it, I understand that Jesus warned about times just like this. The question that you want to make sure that you can answer is that are you on the right path? Are you sure you're on the right path because he's coming for you. He's coming for you. Let me tell you what being on the right path doesn't mean. This is what it doesn't mean. Here's an example about how not to be on the right path. Mark chapter 10, verse 17. Mark 10, 17, the Bible says, now as he was going out onto the road, this is Jesus, one came running, knelt down before him, and asked him three things this person did. Whoever he is, let's not really add, whoever he is, this person came to Jesus. This person knelt down and this person asked him three things that I want to ask myself regarding the path that I'm on. Am I coming to Jesus? This guy starts out good. He comes to Jesus. He kneels down in homage or reference to Jesus. And then he asks him and I have to ask myself, am I approaching Christ this way? Am I on the right path? Does he have my reverence? Does he have my request when I speak or ask him? So this guy seems to be very focused. He seems to be right on target. So to speak. And then he says something extremely powerful, but we don't know what his answer is to this one asked. He says to Jesus, good teacher, what shall I do that I might inherit eternal life? So he calls Jesus good teacher. And I do not get this in our Western world, but this is what it's meant in the Middle Eastern world at that time and even to this day. When the statement is made good teacher, the word means, by the way, the word good in original English because of the Latin and the Greek, good is always reserved for God. I don't know if you know that or not. It was not supposed to be used toward anything else but God. So when he says good teacher, he's saying God's teacher, it's what he's really saying. You know how you and I say good morning, you know, we don't even know what we're saying. The original English was God's morning to you. Good night. Oh, that meant early on, they didn't say good night 400 years ago, they didn't say good night. They said God's night, it was a blessing, God's night be upon you. Then it was shortened to, you know how you spell goodbye and what is thought of as old English, right, by a B-Y-E, it's actually, again, all polluted from God's night be upon you. When we would say good day or good afternoon, it's God's afternoon upon you. It's a blessing, God's morning be upon you, friend. It's been shortened up to good because it's reserved only for God. Of course Jesus, knowing great English, Latin and Greek, I'm kidding, I'm just, this is God speaking. He says something very profound. He says, why do you call me good, is that interesting? Jesus says to this young man, why do you call me good? No one is good but one that is God. And then he answers him, you know the commandments, do not commit adultery. Dear friends, if you're not committing adultery today, you don't get brownie points for that. You don't get an award, he can have an award, I haven't committed adultery. No, you don't get an award for that, you're not supposed to commit adultery. You don't get points for not doing what you're not supposed to do. Do not murder. I haven't murdered in weeks, pastor, can I have an award? No, you're not supposed to murder. Do not steal. Same thing, do not bear false witness, don't lie. And do not defraud, don't rip people off. On to your father and mother, the man answered and said to him, teacher, all these things I've kept from my youth. He's not lying, everything that you said, Jesus, I have physically not done. And this is where Christianity, true biblical Christianity departs from, for example, Judaism. I have good friends who are Jewish and they'll say, it doesn't matter what you think, it doesn't matter what you imagine, it's what you do that matters. That's, look, as citizens, we appreciate that kind of commitment to visible morality, but that doesn't fly in the face of God, does it? God says, I care about what you're thinking about, I care about what you meditate on. Isn't that amazing? Think about the reality of Christ and all of a sudden being on the right path is something that is not a bunch of do's and don'ts and thou shalt nots and give me the boxes to check and see if I match up to the requirements. None of that. It all comes down to the spirit of the matter, who is it inside of you? That makes you who you are and are you on the right path in following Jesus. And he goes on to say, verse 21, then Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, one thing you lack, go your way, so whatever you have, pay attention church, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come, take up your cross and follow me. It's amazing about that statement. Jesus answers him on the level of where he's thinking. He's thinking, I've not done these things, so I'm good, right, I'm okay. Jesus comes down to where he's at and says, if that's the case, good for you, if that's the way you're going to judge yourself, how does Jesus make this guy see the reality of it? If this guy stuck in the physical side of performance, how does Jesus get him to look on the inside? Look what he says, that's one thing you lack, go take everything that you have and sell it and give it to the poor and you'll have eternal life. Ladies and gentlemen, is that the gospel that's preached in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and all the epistles to this day that you'll go to heaven if you give all that you own to the poor? That's not the gospel. What's Jesus doing? Jesus is exposing to the man, the man's own value flaws. You think, you think young man that living this way by what you do and do not do makes you right, well then let's just take your logic to the end. You see Jesus gets him where he's at. You're a rich young man, this is the story of the rich young ruler. You give all that you have, you want to get on the right path, give all of your material wealth up and you'll be saved. No, the shock is what Jesus says to him is that if you think good works get you into heaven then do this, the man couldn't do it. The man was defeated in his own logic. Christians and family listen right now, you may think you're on the right path going to heaven and it's my job this morning to shake you to cause you to think because if I were to ask you right now, are you going to go to heaven? I asked this audience and I asked those of you that are watching right now, are you going to go to heaven if you die? If you have an answer that is opposite to the gospel then you're not going and I say that's sadly because God wants you to go, we want you to go, but if you have an answer that's different than what Christ has prescribed, you're in trouble. And so what Jesus does is he exposes the man to himself. He sees inside and he looks and concludes, watch what happens, watch the result of this. Verse 22 says, but he was sad, the man was sad at this word and he went away sorrowful before he had great possessions. And I would say that's, he had great possessions but he didn't possess them. He had great possessions that possessed him. And then Jesus says regarding this, that Jesus looked around and said to the disciples how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God. What's interesting about that is Jesus didn't say you can't have riches, he's talking about riches possessing you, why because it places you on a path of your own decision making. We want to be careful about that. The Bible says in Proverbs 16 verse 25, there is a way that seems right to a man but the end is the way of death. Are you on the right path? Proverbs 12, 15 is similar to it. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. That's tough. Man that's hard because when a fool thinks he's on the right path you can't get him off. And here's the thing, everybody knows he's a fool but he thinks he's genius. Everybody's going what a fool and he thinks most people are dumb, they don't get it. He's a legend in his own mind. But the truth is to be on the right path is to not only possess, listen, possess the orthodoxy of Scripture. That is, what does the Bible say? It's not only that and you know the answer to this, it's after you study the Bible then what do you do? According to the Bible you're supposed to live it, you're supposed to do it. When the truth is inside of me I need to make sure that I don't add pollutants to it. I want to make sure I guard the truth that's inside of me and I don't mix it with contaminants. Am I on the right path, church family, please, please heed this warning, watch out. There are so many voices and so many ways for you to get quote, data, quote, into your lap or into your eyes and head that it could easily, easily become elements that corrupt the gospel in your life pollutants and contaminants that begin to cast a little bit of doubt on the veracity of God's word and you begin to not view it so powerful or so pure. And it can corrupt you. Are you on the right path? Galatians 3, verse 1, Galatians 3, 1, the Apostle Paul warned the church at Galatia and I love Paul, you got to love Paul. He's just so direct, always. Galatians 3, 1, listen to him, he says, oh, foolish Galatians. You would say today you bozos, who has bewitched you, he's talking to Christians, can you imagine if Paul showed up today and our guest speaker this morning is Paul the Apostle and he comes up, you chino hilly ends you, who has bewitched you and we would say Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth. For whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you has crucified this only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish having begun the Spirit? Are you now being made perfect or complete in the flesh? Do you know why that verse is on the screen right now this morning? Because I heard a famous Christian leader this week say regarding his understanding now, his new revelation of critical race theory, he says, that for the last 30 years he thought he was preaching the gospel, but now he knows the gospel, that the gospel is the gospel of injustice. And I immediately picked up the phone to find out if we have any of that guy's books in our bookstore because he's telling me that for the last 30 years he wasn't preaching the gospel, he's got a new one, a more full gospel. Ladies and gentlemen, this is exactly what he's warning about. Watch out, by the way, yes, I'm actually exercising right now in front of you, negative church growth tactics. This message is going to cause you to have a much easier time next week finding a parking spot. Nobody wants to hear this stuff. James 1-22. James 1-22 says, but be doers of the word, here it is, it's not just having orthodoxy of Scripture, it's practical living, but be doers of the word and not hears only deceiving yourselves. Isn't that amazing? You can go to a Bible study. This is horrific. You can go to a Bible study. You can go to all kinds of Bible studies. But if you don't intend to do it, the truth you do here, why isn't it becoming a pollutant to you? The truth doesn't pollute, it's what it's being housed in. A heart takes in the word without intentions to ever do it, that heart becomes corrupt. That's how the word of God can judge. For if anyone is a hear of the word and now to do or he's like a man observing his natural face in a mirror, I'm sorry, but this is very funny. You look in a mirror, hmm, you look, that's me. And it's funny because this is beyond his. You look in a mirror and you see what you see, but it's processed with your own eyes and when you look, he's like, I'm good. What's what happens? He observes himself and he goes away and he immediately forgets what kind of a man he was because to expound, he doesn't see the nose hair coming out of his nose. He doesn't see that he still has some yoke from breakfast on this side of his mouth. He looks and he goes, I'm good and he goes out and he forgets that what he looked at in the mirror had these things that needed to be fixed and he goes out of the world thinking he's fine. The Bible says, watch out, Matthew chapter 7, verse 13, Jesus said, enter in by the narrow gate. We want to talk about the path, the narrow gate. For why does the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction or to hell and there are many who go in by it because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it. Jesus is not saying it's difficult to get to heaven because you've got to work at it. No, no, no, no. Listen, it's difficult to get to heaven because every day it takes you and I saying, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord. You know, we face that every day, church, every day we get up, who's going to be Lord? We have to choose. I am the right path. This Jack Hibbs podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are listener supported. Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? Go to jackhibbs.com to learn more and stay connected.